Automatic Sheep Counter

Automatic sheep counter LIVESTOCK Miscellaneous 17-1-28 British farmer Dylan Jones, who runs a 600-head sheep flock near Corwen, in North Wales, made a nifty automatic sheep counter to make it easy for one man to work and count sheep at the same time. His counter attaches to the side of a sheep race or similar narrow area through which sheep pass for dipping, shearing, etc. A small pivoting spring-loaded gate is pushed forward each time a sheep passes, triggering a simple, mechanical counter which he salvaged from an old copying machine. Once the sheep has passed, the gate springs back into the closed position. One side benefit is that the gate keeps sheep from backing up. It telescopes up and down to adapt to different size animals. Jones says the gate saves time and labor since he no longer needs to have an extra man there to count sheep passing through. (Farmer's Weekly)

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