Back in 2014 after two failed spring seasons and staring down a third summer with minimal ground cover on their sandhills, Coombe livestock producer Rodney Lush decided he needed a way to keep the sheep away from these erosion prone areas.
Mr Lush and his wife Sally, who farm with their son Jeremy, had selected a heavy but well drained site at their Hyfield property for four containment pens..
Within weeks their fencing contractor built the 50 metre by 50m pens with cyclone and two barb wires at the top and one at the bottom and by the New Year they had sheep in there.
Nine years later and the containment pens remain a valuable asset to protect their paddocks over summer and autumn, with enough capacity for all of their 1600 self-replacing Merino ewes if necessary.
Each pen can hold up to 500 sheep.
"We know we have fragile country, we don't want to go back to white sandhills," he said.
"Containment allows appropriate rest for our perennial pastures, they respond better to opening rains and show much improved persistence."
Speaking during the recent Mackillop Farm Management Group Livestock Containment Bus Tour, Mr Lush said it had been a "learning experience" for them especially when they lost some sheep in a mob with a bacterial infection, but they had found a protocol that works for them.
He says training their ewe lambs onto lick feeders and having them in the pens for at least six to eight weeks has been key to minimising shy feeders.
"The system wouldn't work as well if we were buying in replacements," he said.
"Because we breed our own ewe lambs and train them the entire flock knows how to access grain from the feeder anytime they enter containment.
"This year we have good levels of ground cover and plentiful feed from lucerne and stubbles so currently we only have our ewe lambs in containment."
They acclimatise the sheep to grain by trail feeding barley in the paddock prior to entry into containment and ensure when they go in the self-feeders are turned down to the lowest flow rate.
An acid buffer is also added to the feeders and the sheep are treated with a 3 in 1 B12 vaccine prior to entry.
The 2.3m and 3.8 cubic metre capacity self feeders are located near the edge of the pens so they can be filled with their seed and super unit about once a week.
"We work on Lifetime Ewe Management principles starting at 500g of barley and half a kilogram of hay per head providing 8-10MJ/ME of energy to meet the nutritional needs of a dry ewe," he said.
"One of the disadvantages of the feeders is that it can be difficult to limit it to 500g per ewe but as they get closer to lambing their needs increase."
Depending on the season Mr Lush says the ewes may be in there for several months but they always ensure out well before their April lambing.
They are often able to put the ewes on their lucerne paddocks after seed harvest.
"We prefer to defer containment until after shearing in January but some years poor ground cover dictates early entry," he said.
"History suggests the lower yielding wool is better than landscape damage.
"We prefer to containment feed our singles (single bearing ewes) later into pregnancy. Our twins settle better ahead of lambing when released earlier."
It has also given them the capacity to finish their Merino and crossbred lambs on grain although they generally put less lambs in a pen than adult sheep and add an extra feeder in the pen. They often add lupins or beans to the lamb finishing ration.
TRAC Performance minerals are available ad lib in half drench containers, with salt and lime often added to make the minerals go further.
Water supply is gravity fed via a 50mm system delivered from each end of the facility so that water flows equally to all pens.
Mr Lush says they have a daily routine of inspecting the sheep and cleaning out the feeders of sticks, stones and chaff. This is especially important when the feeders are set at low flow rates.
"We clean the troughs every couple of days and add hay or top up minerals so we have a reason to be there every day," he said.
"You know quickly how the sheep are doing looking at their manure and demeanor, Walking through them helps with general stock handling.
"Any issues can amplify quickly if you miss four to five days."
Mr Lush says if they had their time over again they would design the fences between the pens to be more durable putting the posts 5m apart rather than the 10m they were until changes were made.
"It would also be nice to have a bit more shade, on hot days we let the sheep out of the pen," he said.
