Sheep race questions

Connemara Farmer

No, not the and they're off type.

I've come to the end of the novelty of sheep lunging in pens, I want some order.

So I've decided I will build a race, or three. Start with one anyhow.

Questions, what width should it be for hill sheep (blackface & cheviot)?

Should I make it for single file, double, triple?

How do younger lambs get on in them?

All pro's cons etc please.

I won't be buying prefabricated, I'll be making it myself.

Lano Lynn

you don't have a big flock so 16ft long 2ft6ins wide dosing race (you get in with them)leading out to a V race for shedding.
you will need 1m high for your ladies

you will never regret putting up a dosing race

Farrell

Would you be best to use 8ft hurdles so that you could lift & move.
Bought 10 hurdles in spring & use them to set up a basic run which I find saves allot of time compared catching in a big pen

sea12

Farrell wrote: »

Would you be best to use 8ft hurdles so that you could lift & move.
Bought 10 hurdles in spring & use them to set up a basic run which I find saves allot of time compared catching in a big pen

Bought one last year con and it is saves a huge amount of time. Make sure you have moveable sides that can move into a v position to keep it narrow for lambs and for foot baths for ewes . Make up a sorting gate aswell. In valuable

Willfarman

I find the race is handy for splitting sheep but not a wonder for dosing. I find a small pen that holds 12 or 15 ewes fairly tight and a marker in the paw a lot quicker. It honestly wouldn't pay you to bother making one. Stanley engineering in Laois I bought mine. Splitter gate, 4 pens with all bars and a guillotine gate for around 500 squid. Well made and galvanised.

Connemara Farmer

I saw a dosing set up on YouTube before where the operator had a metal bar the length of the race, above it and to the far side (operator was outside the race). They would hang a dosing container on the rail and move up along dosing, then at the end move back down vaccinating etc. Seemed to work well.

Was intending on making a concrete footbath built into race, and a slot for the weighing crate I already have.

rangler1

Connemara Farmer wrote: »

I saw a dosing set up on YouTube before where the operator had a metal bar the length of the race, above it and to the far side (operator was outside the race). They would hang a dosing container on the rail and move up along dosing, then at the end move back down vaccinating etc. Seemed to work well.

Was intending on making a concrete footbath built into race, and a slot for the weighing crate I already have.

Like will, I find a small pen better for dosing when the lambs are small and still with the ewes, we have the small pen at the race so that when they're dosed they walk out through the race with the ewes.....that way they're trained to the race when they are weaned.
Our race is 20ft long, (two ten foots) but we find it easier on the lambs to only use it as a ten ft .....easier filled and they are tighter in it and they are less time in it, when they get over thirty kilos we use the full 20ft length.
We tape the marker to the handle of the dosing gun with insulating tape. might be an idea for someone

Cran

Put s shedding gate in the run, three way drafter at the end and another short run end of one of the drafter and spilt small lambs into it to dose separate from the ewes. Also put removal able bar along top so can be taken off for dosing lambs & put back for jumpy ewes later in year.

Sheet run as well, ewes run better into it than gate run. Look at good designs and knick as many ideas as possible.

Connemara Farmer

Interesting stuff........ So all that said, is it better to subdivide the larger pens altogether and forget the permanent race idea?

Cran

Connemara Farmer wrote: »

Interesting stuff........ So all that said, is it better to subdivide the larger pens altogether and forget the permanent race idea?

A race will save your knees, having two knees that are bad from football injuries I wouldn't consider dosing in a pen tbh

serfspup

Sheep are not cattle,they are not inclined to push each other up a single race.so they tend to leave to much room in a single line race to restrict movement enough to dose or vaccinate safely,(have seen to many dosing injuries and vaccination abscesses while shearing.)this is why sheep handlers/squeezers/grabs etc have been developed.
A dosing race or working pen call it whatever should allow an adult sheep turn with a little difficulty this allows the doser to move through the dosees with little resistance but have total physical control over them with minimal effort no need for a marker at all.thus for big lowland sheep 2ft 9inches should be enough , 3 ft would be to wide.average sized ewes manage in two ft six. 20ft long is about long enough much over that needs to be devided to avoid sheep backing down the race and smothering weaker lambs.sheeted sides are better but allow a foot rail to assist hopping out and a shelf for general tools etc can be very handy.

jfh

Willfarman wrote: »

I find the race is handy for splitting sheep but not a wonder for dosing. I find a small pen that holds 12 or 15 ewes fairly tight and a marker in the paw a lot quicker. It honestly wouldn't pay you to bother making one. Stanley engineering in Laois I bought mine. Splitter gate, 4 pens with all bars and a guillotine gate for around 500 squid. Well made and galvanised.

we made a concrete one 10 years ago & made the decision to buy a proper race with footbath two years ago, best decision ever, sheep took a while to get used to it, we had to get mats so that they'd run through freely but still use small pin for dosing young lambs

Nekarsulm

Connemara Farmer wrote: »

I saw a dosing set up on YouTube before where the operator had a metal bar the length of the race, above it and to the far side (operator was outside the race). They would hang a dosing container on the rail and move up along dosing, then at the end move back down vaccinating etc. Seemed to work well.

Was intending on making a concrete footbath built into race, and a slot for the weighing crate I already have.

Some great ideas there. Horny ewes have a great knack of hooking the drenching gun pipe in a horn and pulling it off the back pack. then by the time you get ut off your back, prababyl ten doses lost.

AntrimGlens

Con to be honest I'd never go back to catching ewes to dose in a pen, as it was getting to the stage where i was neglecting the sheep due to having completely inadequate sheep handling facilities. I built a new handling set up a couple of years ago (with 2nd hand hurdles) after stealing ideas from the many i looked at.
It was built into an old yard thus there were already block built walls along two sides of it, so I put sheeted hurdles 2ft 6" out from the walls which makes two races with a guillotine gate at the end of one. The main race is 30ft long and will hold 17/18 ewes and the race behind this is the same length so when the first race is emptied i can then refill without having to drive more ewes into it from the pens, just reduces the time spent filling the race.
The races are sturdy as i sunk bit of box section with lugs welded onto it into a sleeve in the concrete for the lugs of the hurdles to meet and then the pin dropped into them, just keeps the ewes from pushing out the sides. I have a 3ft gate built into the side of the main race so i can use it for shedding or just so I can get into the race when dosing lambs. The weighbridge and roll over crate can be added to the head of the race when needed. Having the lambs used to the race is great when weighing as they will run through the bridge without any handling and saves the back.
I find 2ft 6 wide suitable for my ewes as they will push themselves forward to their shoulders on the side of the ewe in front thus you have easy access to their head which is helpful when bolusing and dosing as you rarely have to reach for a head stuck under another ewes udder.
I have a 10ft footbath sunk into the second race which I thought would be great as i could work away at the ewes in the first race whilst the ewes in the second race would be walking through the footbath, but in all honesty the ewes are still hesitant to walk through it, so i did away with using it and will actually fill it in this winter and use the main footbath which holds 20 ewes. The walk through bath fills up with rain and dirt and lambs are very nervous about walking through it the first couple of times they're put in the race and slows up operations, means more handling of them to get them up the race. Although I like jfh mats idea as I expect this would help.
I have a rope hung from the front to the rear of the first race 8ft high with a bit of a lorry airbrake hanging from it which is attached to the dosing pack and means that it is always out of the way and springs up when you need to free your hands or if i'm administering a bolus and drench or want to mouth ewes.
I find having ewes in a race means you can spot things easier, all ewes can be condition scored quickly, udders felt easily and mouths checked easily. Not so handy for checking feet obviously.
Pointers:
Get the height right as you don't want to be bent double over the side of the hurdle to reach for the ewes mouth.
Get the width right, if you're using it for ewes and lambs make a bracer bar that is adjustable to fit ewes or lambs.
Make sure it is sheeted, sheep will be distracted if they can see to the side of them, make sure they can only see in front of them.
Put a gate in the race for you to get access , climbing in and out over ewes is not fun when done repeatedly.
Hang a rope over the length of the race to hang dosing pack from.
Keep it neat, no screw heads or rivet ends poking out as you'll rip every jacket and leggings you ever wear on them.
Study and steal ideas from everywhere you see a handling yard

ganmo

i'm leaning towards a race that you can work in rather that leaning over(our ewes love keeping their heads down)
the way we're set up at the moment is a pen that holds 40/50 ewes with a 10ft hurl tied onto one wall and a 4 ft onto the other that makes a narrow triangle that holds 10/12. and we can let them out 2 different ways.

skoger

Don't forget a non return gate. It's nearly the most important part;).

2'6" might be a bit wide for horned sheep as some of them can turn but if you have to get in along with them I wouldn't go much narrower.

when you get the race up and running run the sheep through 3 or 4 times without doing anything with them. they'll go up easier for you the next time

Nekarsulm

Rigged up a strand of high tensile wire over the race today, to let the drench bottle slide along. Works a treat.

sea12

Nekarsulm wrote: »

Rigged up a strand of high tensile wire over the race today, to let the drench bottle slide along. Works a treat.

Going to do the same myself at the weekend.