Bruce Hutchin has been running his On Farm Services crutching business in the Tararua and Central Hawkes Bay for over three years and has built up a good base of clientele.
With his specialised Hecton Crutching Trailer his service is quick and efficient. He makes these points:
- • The advantage of using a crutching trailer is that the sheep can be done wet and full, so crutching is not weather dependent. The sheep can be run in straight from the paddock that morning, no need to empty them out over the night before, great for In-lamb ewes.
- •Crutching for the prevention of fly-strike is important in the warmer months.
- •Satellite or temporary yards where there is no power is no problem for Bruce as his set up is self-sufficient.
- •Some clients are now using the opportunity of having the crutching trailer on farm and are getting the sheep drenched and/or vaccinated on the front of the trailer, while the sheep is the handler getting crutched. This saves the farmer valuable time by only having the sheep through the yards once. Bruce will accommodate whatever the farmers requirements are.
- •Farmers are becoming more aware as to how convenient it is to use a crutching trailer and how much less stressful it is on the sheep, especially at pre-lamb.
- •Also for the farmers convenience Bruce can now bring along an extra person and a couple of dogs along to help make the job easier, especially if the farmer needs to get other jobs on the farm done.