Handy tools for sheep/Toolbox essentials for every sheep farmer

Green farmer

I got thinking recently. What handy little tools do you have for sheep ? I have a nice shepherds crook, which I enjoy walking the fields with. One thing that I must buy myself soon is a ear notcher. Don't even know if people use them anymore. What simple little things do ye use that come in useful ?

ganmo

Green farmer wrote: »

I got thinking recently. What handy little tools do you have for sheep ? I have a nice shepherds crook, which I enjoy walking the fields with. One thing that I must buy myself soon is a ear notcher. Don't even know if people use them anymore. What simple little things do ye use that come in useful ?

A crook is a god send when trying to catch lambs in the field
Fencing pliers(and wire) for patching the holes lambs find

Nekarsulm

The "fencing bucket" with pliers, hammer etc always in the jeep. Also a bucket with a half a pound of nuts, very handy.

Green farmer

Nekarsulm wrote: »

Also a bucket with a half a pound of nuts, very handy.

:pac: they'd run through a wall for that stuff

ganmo

worse than cocaine for kids!

tomwaterford

A good border collie

Birdnuts

A reliable set of clippers for dealing with dirty ewes and lambs. Saves alot of grief dealing with maggots later in the year.

Green farmer

In hindsight I should of named this thread, toolbox essentials for every sheep farmer. You'd be surprised how these simple tools can get you out of a spot of trouble

Green farmer

Anybody know where I'd buy a burdizzo for castration of sheep as opposed to a big cattle one, or a good brand of one.. Had a quick look at department website and you can castrate up to 3 months of age for ones that didn't get done at birth . Or anybody use them ? How do ye find them

Connemara Farmer

Green farmer wrote: »

Anybody know where I'd buy a burdizzo for castration of sheep as opposed to a big cattle one, or a good brand of one.. Had a quick look at department website and you can castrate up to 3 months of age for ones that didn't get done at birth . Or anybody use them ? How do ye find them

This is the closest one I can see online, I'm not full sure if it's a proper lamb one though:

http://www.fanevalleystores.com/product/150212/bloodless-castrator-9in

We have a lamb one and I hate the thing. Much prefer rings or just let them off as rams/rigs.

I'd say a lot of merchants would have them.

orm0nd

Connemara Farmer wrote: »

This is the closest one I can see online, I'm not full sure if it's a proper lamb one though:

http://www.fanevalleystores.com/product/150212/bloodless-castrator-9in

We have a lamb one and I hate the thing. Much prefer rings or just let them off as rams/rigs.

I'd say a lot of merchants would have them.

agree with Con on this , have 1 & it's rusting away some where

ganmo

Green farmer wrote: »

Anybody know where I'd buy a burdizzo for castration of sheep as opposed to a big cattle one, or a good brand of one.. Had a quick look at department website and you can castrate up to 3 months of age for ones that didn't get done at birth . Or anybody use them ? How do ye find them

We've a cattle one here for doin the odd one we miss, hate using it. Think I've seen sheep ones in mulinahone coop wrapper somewhere

ganmo

ganmo wrote: »

We've a cattle one here for doin the odd one we miss, hate using it. Think I've seen sheep ones in mulinahone coop wrapper somewhere

Yup
http://www.mullinahonecoop.ie/catalog/partlist.aspx?CategoryID=239

Green farmer

by what yer saying lads, they mightn't be great, so might leave it. Nothing worse then a lamb not done right and only half castrated.

Connemara Farmer

Green farmer wrote: »

by what yer saying lads, they mightn't be great, so might leave it. Nothing worse then a lamb not done right and only half castrated.

They work, I just don't like them, in fact I've never used one, it belongs to Dad.

Zoo4m8

Green farmer wrote: »

by what yer saying lads, they mightn't be great, so might leave it. Nothing worse then a lamb not done right and only half castrated.

Used a cattle one for years when we used to buy a lot of stores, always tried to buy wethers but a ram would often get past me..but never use on your own and do one side at a time..

Handy tools? The length of cord over the crush/race to hang the dose bottle on..with an added hook for the gun, keeps it out of the way while you wrestle that awkard bugger out from under the others,

Username John

Zoo4m8 wrote: »

Used a cattle one for years when we used to buy a lot of stores, always tried to buy wethers but a ram would often get past me..but never use on your own and do one side at a time..
)

Same here - horrible ould job then...

You need someone with you, although the grandfather used to do it on his own, but used an old horse collar to sit each lamb into, the collar would hold em perfect, the poor bastards...

davidk1394

This tool here for straining the sheep wire. Slots onto the back of the jcb. save a lot of cursing and sweat

orm0nd

red tags for culls,
sprays , notches, markers can be hit and miss at times
any ewe wearing a red tag here is booked for a one way ticket


lambing camera

numbers on the individual pens, & white board in lambing shed

4512

Would ear notches be any good for notching twin ewe lambs at birth so you could know the replacements with the best genetics? Or would it grow back too quickly?

gazahayes

4512 wrote: »

Would ear notches be any good for notching twin ewe lambs at birth so you could know the replacements with the best genetics? Or would it grow back too quickly?

Once it's gone it's gone. Worked for a lad one time used to notch them according to the year so he'd know how old they were bye checking where the notch was

davidk1394

4512 wrote: »

Would ear notches be any good for notching twin ewe lambs at birth so you could know the replacements with the best genetics? Or would it grow back too quickly?

Thats how we do it. Once the notch is gone it's gone

Green farmer

Must get myself a notcher lads. I saw them for about €10-€15 to buy , so they ain't expensive. Very handy for marking potential replacements at birth.

Username John

Actually - how do lads here track / record lambs vs ewes?

I have a little notebook (one of those Sheep Ireland ones) and I tag each lamb with the ewe info. Now that's fine for my (very) small numbers...

Just wondering what lads with big numbers do?

davidk1394

Username John wrote: »

Actually - how do lads here track / record lambs vs ewes?

I have a little notebook (one of those Sheep Ireland ones) and I tag each lamb with the ewe info. Now that's fine for my (very) small numbers...

Just wondering what lads with big numbers do?

i have a notebook in my pocket all the time and write down any ewes who have lamness or illness. If they get lame or mastitis i give them a notch. After 3 notches in the ear the ewe gets replaced. I dont tag the lambs until their going up on the trailer for sale. I personally think tagging young lambs is a waste of time and writing down records of every lamb and their birth weights is not needed. We used do it but gave it up

ganmo

davidk1394 wrote: »

i have a notebook in my pocket all the time and write down any ewes who have lamness or illness. If they get lame or mastitis i give them a notch. After 3 notches in the ear the ewe gets replaced. I dont tag the lambs until their going up on the trailer for sale. I personally think tagging young lambs is a waste of time and writing down records of every lamb and their birth weights is not needed. We used do it but gave it up

One thing I'd like to do here is record the weaning weights and link it to the mother.
What we have been doin is when tagging the replacements the best/biggest ewe lambs get the low number tags with the smallest ewe lamb gettin the last tag.

davidk1394

ganmo wrote: »

One thing I'd like to do here is record the weaning weights and link it to the mother.
What we have been doin is when tagging the replacements the best/biggest ewe lambs get the low number tags with the smallest ewe lamb gettin the last tag.

How does that work ? Sounds like a good idea

AntrimGlens

I have a notebook and pencil which stays in the toolbox which is permanently strapped to the quad. Upload any data to the computer at night and only take the reader with me when working with the whole flock such as dosing, clipping, weighing, weaning etc as it saves quite a bit of writing at those times. Toolbox contains fencing pliers, hammer, rope, baler twine, staples, knife, pen strep, alamycin, Terramycin spray, markers. And a pile of other stuff. Just means you can never ignore the problem by saying I don't have "it" with me today if it's always in the box.

Green farmer

No one can accuse you of going in half prepared Antrim :pac:

I also like the whiteboard in lambing shed idea ormond.

rangler1

Username John wrote: »

Actually - how do lads here track / record lambs vs ewes?

I have a little notebook (one of those Sheep Ireland ones) and I tag each lamb with the ewe info. Now that's fine for my (very) small numbers...

Just wondering what lads with big numbers do?

OH is really into computers so we have a programme from TGM software and everything is compatible with that, scales, phone, reader, we can get information out on the farm on the phone or the reader, for instance when we're culling and when running the reader along the race it'll beep over any ewes that were flagged at lambing for culling.
Likewise we weigh at weaning and that highlights the ewes that are not doing the job.
It's hard to see the advantage in that recording with lambs, there's not a huge variation in weaning weights unless the ewe is very poor and you won't need a scales to spot her...same with the lambplus stars, huge difference in cattle between a one star and five star bull, but sheep Ireland are only claiming maybe 2kgs at weaning....is it really worth the bother.
Lifting management is much more rewarding

sea12

rangler1 wrote: »

OH is really into computers so we have a programme from TGM software and everything is compatible with that, scales, phone, reader, we can get information out on the farm on the phone or the reader, for instance when we're culling and when running the reader along the race it'll beep over any ewes that were flagged at lambing for culling.
Likewise we weigh at weaning and that highlights the ewes that are not doing the job.

You may host an open day for us boardies some day rangler. Would love to see such a professional set up.

Would broadly agree on the star system. One of my rams is not star rated. Just fancied him at a ram sale in blessing ton. He is just as good lambs as his 4 star comrades. Couldn't tell the difference except the cost.

Green farmer

I bought a 5* ram lamb last summer for the stap. He saw the factory last month. Personally I'd only buy from a breeder who I trusted from now on, such as rangler amongst others. What I mean is a breeder who will genuinely go through the lambs, select the ones fit for purpose and factory the rest, instead of flogging every single ram lamb born as breeding stock .The star rating is noble in theory, but unfortunately is still in its infancy and only as good as the information that the breeder inputs in to it. My gut feeling is the only star rating I'd trust from now on

ganmo

davidk1394 wrote: »

How does that work ? Sounds like a good idea

we'll order 100 e tags get all the replacements into one pen and between me and dad start catchin the biggest/best 10 in no particular order then jus work our way askin each other is that better. we usually have 60 or so replacements so the spare tags will be put into suffx ewe lambs for sale the next year.

now i havent properly looked at the numbers but those that seem to stay longest in the flock seem to be in the 20-40 range

fanadman1

AntrimGlens wrote: »

I have a notebook and pencil which stays in the toolbox which is permanently strapped to the quad. Upload any data to the computer at night and only take the reader with me when working with the whole flock such as dosing, clipping, weighing, weaning etc as it saves quite a bit of writing at those times. Toolbox contains fencing pliers, hammer, rope, baler twine, staples, knife, pen strep, alamycin, Terramycin spray, markers. And a pile of other stuff. Just means you can never ignore the problem by saying I don't have "it" with me today if it's always in the box.

that box sounds like my van ha carry nearly all that stuff bar the notebook i really need to start takeing better notes tbh.

razor8

rangler1 wrote: »

OH is really into computers so we have a programme from TGM software and everything is compatible with that, scales, phone, reader, we can get information out on the farm on the phone or the reader, for instance when we're culling and when running the reader along the race it'll beep over any ewes that were flagged at lambing for culling.
Likewise we weigh at weaning and that highlights the ewes that are not doing the job.
It's hard to see the advantage in that recording with lambs, there's not a huge variation in weaning weights unless the ewe is very poor and you won't need a scales to spot her...same with the lambplus stars, huge difference in cattle between a one star and five star bull, but sheep Ireland are only claiming maybe 2kgs at weaning....is it really worth the bother.
Lifting management is much more rewarding

Hi rangler, how does the phone info work, is it a app or did you have to purchase something extra? I have only reader handheld at the moment

Not sure I agree on post above, if you have got to the stage that you have productive ewes you like you might not see major difference in weaning weights but for someone building up a flock Having never recored before I think you will see major differences.

skoger

Green farmer wrote: »

No one can accuse you of going in half prepared Antrim :pac:

I also like the whiteboard in lambing shed idea ormond.

We have a whiteboard too but this year we used a clipboard instead. You can bring the clipboard to the ewe and write down there and then. When you're walking back to the whiteboard on the wall you start doubting yourself and wonder was it ewe 843 or 834?

rangler1

razor8 wrote: »

Hi rangler, how does the phone info work, is it a app or did you have to purchase something extra? I have only reader handheld at the moment

Not sure I agree on post above, if you have got to the stage that you have productive ewes you like you might not see major difference in weaning weights but for someone building up a flock Having never recored before I think you will see major differences.

It definitely highlights the poor ewes
OH tells me that TGM Software lets you download the phone app and use it for 14 days free if you wanted something to try out......probably in the hope of reeling you in

MayoAreMagic

Not to be too cynical rangler, but couldn't you have the same thing, minus the price of the software and the reader, by just using a well placed spot of marking spray?

ganmo

MayoAreMagic wrote: »

Not to be too cynical rangler, but couldn't you have the same thing, minus the price of the software and the reader, by just using a well placed spot of marking spray?

and a notebook to write down what that mark means

rangler1

MayoAreMagic wrote: »

Not to be too cynical rangler, but couldn't you have the same thing, minus the price of the software and the reader, by just using a well placed spot of marking spray?

The red marker won't highlight the mothers of the lambs that gained less than 200gms/day up to weaning, that's next thing we cull for after the obvious thing you cull for (prolapse, blind spins, etc )
I often say at the time of culling that I could pick out 25 smashing looking ewes for breeding (but they'd all have a history) and the guy that'd buy them would learn more about sheep from them than any teagasc course would teach him

MayoAreMagic

ganmo wrote: »

and a notebook to write down what that mark means

From the post I got the impression it was used for marking culls. But even if you did need a notebook, it would cost you a euro or two, and you still have to input into the software what this list of tag numbers means compared to what another list of numbers means - i.e. same as the notebook.

Im not trying to knock it, Im actually all for utilising modern technologies, it is just that, from what Im reading here, it isn't really justifying it's cost in this instance.

MayoAreMagic

rangler1 wrote: »

The red marker won't highlight the mothers of the lambs that gained less than 200gms/day up to weaning, that's next thing we cull for after the obvious thing you cull for (prolapse, blind spins, etc )

Why wont it? Surely at the point you identify her, you can mark her the same as putting her into the reader? I don't see the distinction there.

rangler1 wrote: »

I often say at the time of culling that I could pick out 25 smashing looking ewes for breeding (but they'd all have a history) and the guy that'd buy them would learn more about sheep from them than any teagasc course would teach him

So mark them down as educational ewes and add 20 onto the price

The real positive that I can see in the reader system is that the data is saved for the future, but as regards culling, why would you want data on ewes you have culled?

Username John

MayoAreMagic wrote: »

From the post I got the impression it was used for marking culls. But even if you did need a notebook, it would cost you a euro or two, and you still have to input into the software what this list of tag numbers means compared to what another list of numbers means - i.e. same as the notebook.

Im not trying to knock it, Im actually all for utilising modern technologies, it is just that, from what Im reading here, it isn't really justifying it's cost in this instance.

At a guess, I would saw the software gives two things
- Saving of the data
- Analysing the data

A notebook is fine for me, one notebook every year does me. But I'd say if you had a few hundred ewes, and to work out what lambs performed the best, from what ewes would get messy very quickly .

Also, a marker prob would do a lot for culling - but that's as long as your breeding policy is simple as well. A mark will tell you who you what ewes to get rid of, but it wont give you any more info when you are chosing ewe lambs to breed from next year.

I think you're right though Mayo, you'd have to work out if the software was useful to you, fitted your system, etc. No point in paying for something, if you feel you wouldnt get the value / use from it.

Green farmer

I'm still at the trying to fence my fields right stage, so anything computerised is far far away in the future for me, but I'd imagine these computer things would come in handy, when you get up to 300 + ewes , and they all look the same, and your under pressure to dose them all etc. Nice to have a computer taking pressure off you and beeping when you scan a problem ewe. Like everything really, it's only as good as the info put into system.

Connemara Farmer

Phone to record tag numbers of ewes and lambs, plus weights @ birth @ 40 days @ 120 days using the memo function. Then onto the computer into an Excel spreadsheet, which is handy as I can rank various attributes in the order I want them. I find paper/notebooks gets destroyed in wet pockets and there'll always be a wet day!

Green farmer

I see we're thinking along same lines, John

Connemara Farmer

Green farmer wrote: »

I see we're thinking along same lines, John

I'll also fire in notes like lameness type and frequency, dagging, flystrike, lambing difficulty, if I see a tag is missing, various stuff like that.

Username John

Connemara Farmer wrote: »

Phone to record tag numbers of ewes and lambs, plus weights @ birth @ 40 days @ 120 days using the memo function. Then onto the computer into an Excel spreadsheet, which is handy as I can rank various attributes in the order I want them. I find paper/notebooks gets destroyed in wet pockets and there'll always be a wet day!

I do something similar. Not sure I'll do it to the same extent this year. I might regularly weigh a few lambs, just to track overall progress.

I found it was the data analysis + overall view that I was missing...
In excel - you can see the best performers, so you have that to guide you, but as Mayo pointed out, you could prob see that in front of you in the pen anyways...

What would be very good is best performer this year + how did that ewes lambs do previously + ewe history...

But as Green said - I have a good few things to sort out, before I get to that level

Username John

I suppose ultimately, all this data should help you using something like below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOGSiJb-7hc

Where everything has an EID, and you tell the PC to sort based on what criteria you want... Then it becomes very useful...

But - that's a step beyond, beyond the step, beyond the step that I have yet to take

Connemara Farmer

Username John wrote: »

you could prob see that in front of you in the pen anyways...

The thing you won't see in the pen in September or whenever is when was the lamb born? The two lambs you're looking at similar size, was one born on the first day or lambing and the other born on the last maybe 6 weeks later? One will have had stronger growth than another. It'll also help should you wish to pick lambs born inside the first 17 days for compacting lambing time.

You can get a crude (I'm sure there's a technically correct way of doing it) day weight gain by subtracting birth weight from current weight and divide by days alive - if you want to.

When you go to look at the ewes for culling, will you remember 100% which had the poor lamb? Was it yer one in the corner or the one in front of you? Shearing removes all marks (ear notches & tags excepted) and it's a busy time to be reapplying extra paint.

I'm into my third year at this and I believe the flock is improving, not only down to this but it's a factor.

Green farmer

Remind me of a story lads. I was building a house once. The joiner turned up to make a front door. An "old boy" . He arrived with a few light timber lat's under his arm. I showed him the front door and asked him to measure it for me. I noticed he hadn't brought any measuring tape with him. I was throwing my eyes up to heaven. Next he started putting the timber lat's up to the door frame. I thought he had lost the plot. He pulled out a little knife out of his pocket and notched out the width on one stick and the length on another. I asked him if he wanted a pencil or tape or paper. He said no, " my timber lat won't lie and it won't get misplaced like a piece of paper". A month later the door arrived, and fitted in perfect.
Same guy is retired now, but they were known to be the best specialist joinery shop in this side of the country.