Dairy Sheep Symposium - the Department of Animal Sciences ...

Facilities and Equipment
The requirements for sheep farming are well known. Items such as barns, grain and forage
storage and feeding facilities, lambing and lamb feeding facilities, handling, sorting and weighing
equipment, manure-handling equipment, watering and mineral feeding equipment would
probably be on everyone’s list. For some the list would include: a tractor, planting and harvesting
equipment, perhaps a four-wheeler, etc.
There are some additional required investments in facilities and equipment for sheep dairying.
For each requirement, there are also options available, depending upon a given farm
manager’s goals, marketing methods and requirements and chosen approach to the situation.
For us, the basics include: a Grade A milking parlor and milk house with pipeline milking
system and bulk tank, a commercial walk-in freezer, barn and lot modifications to facilitate
efficient handling of the ewes into and out of the parlor twice a day, a pallet assembly area and
truck height loading dock for efficient packaging and shipping of frozen milk
The parlor is a New Zealand style (no head gates, the sheep stand side by side) doublesixteen
pit parlor with eight units on each side and a 2-inch low line pipeline system. We went
with a system like this for several reasons:
1. Cost. We were able to build the sheep handling system within the parlor ourselves using
standard 1 1/4” galvanized pipe and bolt together joint fittings available from many
different sources. We saved the cost of headgates and an indexing system which some
parlors use. These indexing systems are fairly pricey. This also gave us the ability to
adjust the position of the various pipes to effectively handle our animals.
2. We had heard discussions among dairy people who were questioning whether the slightly
higher vacuum required to pull the milk up to a high line system would cause damage to
the milk, or to the ewes’ udders. We decided to use a low line to avoid possible future
problems, as this issue seemed unresolved at that time.
3. We constructed our parlor inside of an existing pole building on the farm, which had a
limited ceiling height. This eliminated the option of a platform system – we had to go
down, there was no room for the sheep to go up.
We hired a dairy facilities specialist to install the pipeline system with bulk tank, vacuum
pump, receiver, and clean in place system. We had previously purchased the basic components
from an out of business cow dairy farm. In addition to fitting and installing these components,
the installer supplied electronic pulsation units with an adjustable central controller. This was
very helpful during the first two years because we were able to make small adjustments to the
pulsation rate and vacuum, seeking settings that seemed to provide the best results for us. We
currently run a pulsation rate of 180 ppm, with a 50/50 ratio and a vacuum of 10 psi (37kpa).
Anytime we think the pulsation may not be giving the milking efficiency we desire, it is quite
easy to make one quick change and all units will be pulsating at the chosen rate.
We use the “Uniclaw” milking unit made by Interpuls. This assembly uses silicone rubber
inflations, which we are very pleased with. The silicone maintains its properties longer than
standard rubber, which allows us to change inflations every other season. In addition, because it
is almost clear and uses a clear plastic shell, you can visually see if the teat is properly positioned
in the unit after placement. This unit also does not contain a claw with reservoir; the two sides
are simply connected to a “Y” fitting, and then to the pipeline with milk tubing. We have not