A USEFUL SMALL SHEEP CRUSH

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 75, Issue 1, 15 July 1947, Page 95

A USEFUL SMALL SHEEP CRUSH

By

J. G. RICHARDS,

Instructor In Agriculture,

Balclutha.

GOOD livestock husbandry, particularly in intensive farming, entails giving each animal individual attention from time to time, and it is usual to carry out in the sheepyards such operations as drenching, mouthing, and foot-rotting. Manhandling sheep. all day in the yards can cause much fatigue to the workers, especially if the animals are stubborn. \ (

ANY aids which lessen fatigue and temper during yard ** work must be worth consideration, and the sheep crush described is one which Mr. A. V. King, of Clydevale, Otago, finds helpful when injecting ewes with the entero-toxaemia vaccine for the control of pulpy kidney. ' . Injecting sheep is a two-man job,' one to hold the sheep while the other performs the injection. Unless the person holding the sheep' has a strong grip of the'animal, its struggles when the needle is inserted are often sufficient to break the needle. By using the crush Mr. King is able to hold the animal very firmly and allow the assistant to have both hands free to part the wool. The cost of construction is very small, and the time taken to set it up, whether in the main sheepyards or in temporary paddock yards, is > but a few minutes.

Materials required are:— ' An ordinary farm hurdle. >' . Two 3in. by 2in. pointed stakes about 4ft. long. Two pieces of leather strap. 6in. to Bin. of light chain with a swivel in the centre. A piece of light pole about 3ft. long. Three pieces of timber 18in. by 3in. by fin. to form the bracket which rests tightly on the animal’s back , ,to arrest upward movement . ■ The photographs and the diagrams show the construction of the crush. On the left of the photographs are the two 3in. by 2in. stakes into which the rump of the animal is placed; they are 6in. and 12in. from the hurdle, and the outside one is about 6in. in front of the other. The bracket which rests on the sheep’s back is attached to the second and middle bars of the hurdle. On the top, bar are the leather straps which hold the halter pole; two straps are used to allow for adjustment to the size of the animal. The halter pole is attached by the chain to the bottom bar at a distance from the stakes which depends on the length of the sheep. The swivel in the chain obviates knotting. ' . , The hurdle and the, exit gate form a V rather than a straight line, so that when the gate is opened the sheep has a better view of the yards and will leave the crush more rapidly and without assistance from the shepherd. The lower illustration shows the sheep securely held in the crush. It is unable to move forward because of the halter, backward because of the stakes, or upward because of the bracket.