EVALUATION OF A METHOD TO BULK WEIGH A SAMPLE OF A SHEEP FLOCK

The need to find the average liveweights of flocks of sheep without ya rding and weighing each sheep resulted in the development of a weighin g trailer that can be taken to paddocks where bulk samples of sheep ca n be weighed. The trailer was evaluated to test the hypothesis that th e average liveweight of the sample of a flock of sheep weighed in the trailer gave an unbiased and reliable measure of the flock's average l iveweight. The method is easy to use and the evaluation showed that it was suitably accurate for obtaining the average liveweights. There wa s no indication of bias towards sampling heavier or lighter sheep and so the method can be recommended for use in helping to make management decisions based on average flock liveweights.