Anyone who tries to control sheep without having good handling facilities such as pens or custom sheep yards will soon despise the innocent creatures and even establish that they are inherently stupid. But, the problem is never with the sheep. It has been the sheep. The problem lies with the handler.
Where has this led us to?
In this present age, you’ll soon realize that a large of young people don’t want to work animals on farms, and sheep farmers who are still around are aging quickly building a lesser number of custom sheep yards. Most can no longer keep up with the strenuous physical labor that goes along with raising sheep which typically involves bending over or lifting and dragging the animals.
Before we go on to talk about custom sheep yards, let’s establish some biological facts about sheep.
Sheep facts
When designing or building custom sheep yards, designers need to take into cognizance the two most basic instincts all sheep possess. They are;
1) Flocking instinct: Sheep swarm together. They were born with this instinct. It is what they do all the time. They do this for safety. And, even at the first hint of fear, rather than fleeing in all directions like other animals, they flock together to protect themselves.
2) Follower instinct: sheep are born followers. The moment lambs hit the ground after birth, they start following their mother. I don’t think it’s an art they learn. I believe it’s an art they were born with; ingrained in them. This is unlike goat calves, fawns, and calves whose others hide them in a creche. Sheep love following other sheep, and They especially love to follow other lambs also.
To reduce the physical effort required to push, catch, hold, and turn sheep, the two aforementioned features of sheep behavior form the basis of good custom sheep yards.
Does the size of the flock matter?
The fact remains that basic sheep behavior is not greatly impacted or influenced by flock size. And, if for any reason, the scale of the facilities is not raised to accommodate, it becomes increasingly difficult for an individual animal to locate itself in a mob as flocks become larger.
Custom sheep yards designs
Receiving & holding yards
Receiving and holding yards do not require complex or expensive building (or surfacing) to be effective. The basic thing is they must be substantial enough to contain the biggest mob with a minimum area per sheep of one square meter.
Also, the materials can be made to be lighter as this will lower the density of the sheep. Water and shade should ideally be available.
The primary paths used by sheep to move through the farm should be close to these custom sheep yards.
Pathways
This is the route that is utilized to move the sheep from the primary holding location to the working spaces.
During winter and summer, there would be dust and slush, therefore the pathway’s wear and tear surface should be treated to lessen or eliminate this problem. You could use water or sump oil to solve this issue easily on custom sheep yards built on sand in summer periods. To control winter slush, just install a good drainage system to minimize water collection.