Sheep Handling Equipments - Tips On How To Manage The Flock Effectively

While working hands-on is the only way to achieve
the optimum results when raising
sheep. That's why sheep owners must
purchase their very own sheep
handling equipments to manage the flock
effectively.But that doesn't mean that he or she
does it with his or her own bare hands. A halter
is among the most basic of sheep handling
equipments. It is attached to the head of a
sheep usually behind the ears and above the
muzzle. The halter is used for leading, training
and tying up the sheep. Sheep halters can be made
of leather or rope in nylon or cotton fibers.

Moving the sheep may be a daunting task. That is
why several sheep handling equipments and
facilities are designed to organize the flock.
The gathering pen is another area where the
sheep, all types even the small ones are
collected from the pasture. While it is
enclosed, it should be large and spacious enough
to contain all the flock. After staying in the
gathering pen, the sheep are now ushered towards
the crowding pen.

The crowding pen leads to the chute or the
raceway. The crowding pen is used to sort out
the animals from the flock coming from the
gathering pen. Small lambs or even pregnant ewes
can be distinguished from the rest of the flock
once they enter the crowding pen. The crowding
pen should be round or four-cornered, but
triangular pens are not encouraged as some sheep
have the tendency to get stuck at the corner.

Here the equipments like coral and cradle come
into play. The coral is used to stabilize a
sheep in one area. The cradle is used to keep
the sheep from walking around so that they can
be checked for disease, vaccinated or checked
for pregnancies.

The chute is a raceway for sheep. This is a
narrow passageway held on its side with ropes or
transparent fence. It should be narrow enough to
fit one sheep. Chutes belong to the most
important sheep handling equipments. It enables
the flock to walk in a single file as if in a
queue. This equipment is important especially
when giving vaccines to each sheep to make sure
that each and every sheep are covered and
monitored.

A chute can be very long that's why it can be
separated by transparent gates. However it is
important that the end of the chute is not
blocked, as the sheep tend to panic when it
approaches a blocked passageway, and might cause
stress to the whole flock. The chute further
leads to gates that select which sheep will be
further lead to holding pens or back to grazing.

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equipments? Visit the how to raise sheep site
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