The movement of sheep on inclines

Abstract

The effect of three factors on the movement of small flocks of sheep on narrow (0.5 m) and wide (1.5 m) ramps was tested : 1. direction of movement on the ramp-either up or down ; 2. type of floor - either slats, a solid surface, or steps; and 3. angle of incline-either 0¦, 10¦, 20¦, 30¦, or 45¦. On both narrow and wide ramps sheep moved better on the flat than up an incline, and better up an incline than down. Floor type had little effect on sheep movement. The preference of sheep for moving up inclines or on the flat was tested in a separate experiment. All 10 groups of test sheep chose to move on the flat when first given this choice, and this preference persisted despite training to the contrary and despite blocking the view through the race. The results suggest that a major cause of the unreliability of self-feeding races may be their use of inclines, that sheep yards should be sited on the flat, and that where sheep must be elevated, smaller angles of incline will give better flow.