Using containment areas for sheep

By: "Farm Tender" News
Ag Tech News
Dec 10, 2018
1397 views
Share

By Alison Frischke - BCG

For mixed farmers harvesting lighter crops this year, summer grazing on stubbles and managing paddock cover could be a challenge. Putting sheep into containment areas could be a viable option to reduce soil erosion.

Containment areas are used for a variety of reasons. Usually they’re an area used to take sheep off paddocks to preserve groundcover and topsoil nutrients in dry conditions. Containment areas can hold sheep while pastures are establishing, when spraying pastures for pest management, or during an emergency such as fire. They can also be used to hold sheep at shearing and keep more stock for longer, thus being able to sell into better markets.

By having control over feeding, containment can help manage the pasture response after rain (initially of low quality), growth, body weight and condition (pregnant ewes and lifetime lamb performance) and wool quality by avoiding wool breaks.

Ad - Mulcahy & Co Agri Services provides a wide range of Farm Financial Services, they make sure you get results from all your hard work - Ad

Setting up

Site: Know your local Council and EPA requirements when building a containment area. Standards vary between regions. Locate close to yards or laneways for ease of access to handling facilities and makes them easier to check. Ideally land slope should be from 2-6% to drain water away otherwise, have a release area for stock to get out to when wet. Smartphone apps are now available to help estimate slope. Align pens across the slope and positioned north to south direction for best shade.

Layout/Design: Set up you pens to minimise labour during feeding. Yards can have a communal trough, where each pen is let out to feed individually in a feeding pen – this keeps trough costs down but is more labour intensive. Place water as far from feed as possible to minimise water contamination and stock density. An example design can be seen here.

Pen size: Generally, 5m2 is recommended, so half hectare = 5000m2 = 1000 head. To reduce stress and improve overall welfare, the more area per sheep the better. Ewes in late pregnancy may be better with 5-10m2. Although not recommended, if you must lamb in containment, use 15-20m2. Joining in containment is fine, particularly for maiden ewes.

Shade: Shelter can come from hay bales, trees and hedge rows to restrict wind. Place big bales outside the pen, so they don’t get eaten out and cave in. You must fence off trees as sheep will ringbark and expose root structures. You can also use well-secured plastic dome shelters, or shade cloth structures.

Mob sizes: Industry recommends a maximum of 350 sheep, particularly for lambs, but you may be able to manage up to 500 mature sheep. Larger numbers will increase effects on shy feeders and animal health issues. Try and reduce social stress, sheep will quieten down over time, but try not to mix mobs and upset their social pecking order.

Materials: Kept simple, containment areas don’t need to be costly or pretty to be functional. You can use whatever you have on farm, but you may need to buy feeders or on-farm storage. Most containment fences are ring-lock or hinge joint. Corrugated iron or tyres also work well.

High pressure areas: Posts 3m apart are adequate but place closer together in high pressure areas. On high pressure areas above feeders along fence lines, use pipe, RHS tube or threaded wire through poly to run across the feed face to stop stock entering the feed trough. Corrugated iron can also be used above feed troughs and in corners. Along fences, corrugated iron, truck or car tyres visually help sheep to see the fence and stop them from crashing through.

Water set-up: Water intake drives feed intake. Sheep may consume between 4-6L/day. Quality and a good flow rate is critical. Keep water cool and clean regularly. Provide 15m of trough edge per 500 sheep. You can use PVC with cut-outs to reduce contamination. Raise troughs and position away from the feed at the lower end of the pen so water drains away.

Feed delivery: Provide 15-20m of double sided trough for 100 sheep. Locate feeders on the higher end to separate from water.

Self-feeders: Can reduce labour input as they only need filling up every 3-5 days, compared with trail feeding every 2 days.

Lick feeders: Preferred to self-feeders as you can set a targeted amount to access per day, you don’t want to overfeed in containment.

Ad - Mulcahy & Co Agri Services provides a wide range of Farm Financial Services, they make sure you get results from all your hard work - Ad

Trail feeding in troughs: You can use conveyer belt, shade cloth, corrugated iron or trim deck (careful of sharp edges), C-section steel, 44-gallon drums, tarpaulin, plastic, PVC moulding, or concrete.

Refilling feeders and troughs: Sheep will take to the feeders faster if they are central in the pen compared with along the fence line. But if you can fill troughs or feeders externally you can line them up along the fence and auger into them without going into the pens. Refilling feed troughs or feeders can be done with grain carts, seed-and-super units and chaser bins.

For further guidelines: National procedures and guidelines for intensive sheep and lamb feeding systems

https://www.bcg.org.au/