I was once told by a man who ran 6000 sheep that most of our time is spent filling the chute. Therefore, he argued, you want your chute to hold as many sheep as possible. The problem is how do you have a really long chute in a relatively small space? When I saw a dual lead up chute in action on a sheep dairy in New Zealand I knew I just saw the answer. The extra chute takes up very little room and compacts the chute space. It also improves sheep flow into the system.
In this video we are going to take a tour of a handling system to talk about what features help improve the flow of sheep through the system. This handling system is portable, so it can be moved and set up anywhere the sheep are, which greatly improves sheep care in regenerative ag systems where sheep might be grazing far from the homestead. This system is made of galvanized steel for durability. You can also buy handling systems made of aluminum that are a lot lighter and faster to set up. I chose steel because I work a lot of rams through my system, and they tend to be hard on the equipment. I also realized I was likely to hire some help to move and set up my system, so I wanted the panels to be durable enough to take some abuse. I have seen this same system that was 20 years old and still looked like new. Note that I have cement under the single file chute and a 'sidewalk' that I can walk on. Our soil has a lot of clay and boot sucking mud can really wear a person out. The cement has been a great addition. If you have any questions just ask below. I can take added photos to demonstrate anything you might wish to see.
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