Farmer Writes: new handling facilities were not cheap but it’s a lifetime job

With time and labour at a premium for farmers nowadays, animals tend to be handled less frequently, so a secure, safe and easy-to-use handling facility has never been more important.

I read a great article last year which advised that “if you have €10,000 to spend, spend it on farm infrastructure and facilities rather than upgrading the jeep”.

When planning to invest in new handling facilities, we spent a few months discussing our options with Condon Engineering.

We wanted a design that would suit both sheep and cattle. It took a little bit of planning, but we eventually came up with a plan that we felt suited our needs.

It was decided to place the handling facilities in the middle of the farm. This meant we could stock in from each field without having to travel them through other fields, and also worked with the animals’ natural tendency to go to where they know the gates are already.

The penning was all delivered flat-packed and all numbered as per the plan.

The task of erecting was done by ourselves, with the help of two local lads who work at the building game. We set the posts in leanmix first and bit by bit, like a big jigsaw, it came together. We then poured concrete around the whole lot to tighten it all up.

As you can see from the photos, we have no footbath or sheep dip in it. We already have a good sheep dip on the farm and we don’t footbath at all.

We decided to put in a small, simple sheep race because every time I’ve personally seen or observed sheep put through a cattle race, they always end up turning around in it.

The outside of the race and the curved area is clad in stokboard. It’s so good we’ve installed it on other gates in the farmyard since.

This is our second season using the facility and the biggest problem with it is that we want one on each block of land now. It really makes handling stock so simple, quiet, calm and safe for both man and beast. Man passes are installed throughout.

All the penning is usable for both cattle and sheep, but when sheep get to the entrance of the cattle race a gate swings over and they are diverted down their own smaller race.

We put a loading bay to one side where you can safely get your trailer ready without any stock near you.

It wasn’t cheap, but it is a lifetime job. I wouldn’t even start to guess how much time it has saved us so far.