Design makes counting and sorting sheep a dream

Industrial designer Professor Tony Parker’s expertise has been enlisted in the development of a farming product that could revolutionise the process of drafting and weighing sheep.

The Gallagher Sheep Auto Drafter – to be unveiled at National Fieldays at Mystery Creek today – has been designed and constructed to make the process of drafting or sorting sheep easier on both man and beast.

Auto-drafters are generally built with steel or aluminium. This is the first to be made from composite materials, including plastic and glass reinforcing.

Professor Parker, who is an Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor at the College of Creative Arts, says the use of this manufacturing method provided important performance benefits for animal handling.

He provided design advice on its overall form, configuration and ergonomic features, working with engineers, technologists and marketing staff of animal management company Gallagher.

Aside from being robust enough to handle the toughest farming environment the auto drafter is also very quiet, he says. “Being quiet to operate and providing animals with a tranquil sensory environment is essential in a process where it’s important to keep the stock calm.”

Other design features include the ability of the auto drafter to draft in up to a maximum of nine directions. Unlike other auto draft operations this version does not require the use of a clamp.
The front and rear gates open and close automatically when they sense the presence of an animal. The composite materials also reduce electrical noise that can interfere with the performance of readers and electronic identification tags.

Professor Parker says another innovation with the auto-drafter is the orange J-shaped central beam that carries separate control technology. “It looks obvious when you see it but it was quite a breakthrough and helped allow right or left side operation while providing good access to manually handle stock when required.”

Even the colours are deliberately chosen. Professor Parker sought advice from veterinary science colleagues at Massey before proposing an orange and grey combination, which avoided the high tonal contrast at eye level that research shows sheep react poorly to.

“There was an awful lot of experimenting and testing involved in the whole design development process,” he says.

The sheep auto drafter has been extensively trialled in New Zealand and Australia with positive results.

Professor Parker was first invited to work on the product more than three years ago. He has previously worked with Gallagher designing numerous products including a portable hand-held smart reader, which allows farm workers to automatically identify animals via an electronic numbering system.

“But this [the sheep drafter] is probably one of the more unusual and revolutionary products I’ve worked on.”