Panel reader video
Attached is a short video of some tagged sheep running past a panel reader. This result was 44 reads out of 46 lambs (96%).
The panel reader was simply tied with bailer twine to the wooden fence. The main problem is ensuring that only one lamb can pass at a time because if two tags are in front of the panel at the same time generally only the closer tag will be read. The exit we used was fairly narrow because the sheep had already been shed but could have been narrower. As can be seen in the video several times two lambs try to squeeze past at the same time which is probably when two of the tags were missed. Better results could probably have been achieved by using a longer narrow race or running the lambs past the reader a second time but it was late in the day.
If you have difficulty with the film clip I would suggest VLC player which can play almost any video format. As always be careful when downloading anything from the internet.
UPDATE:
I had another go just before they went off to market. This time I used a narrow passageway at the end and the lambs seemed to run through in single file better, and I was hopeful this would get an improved result. Unfortunately the reader still missed 2 tags, although at least one of the lambs had the electronic tag in the wrong ear. I think over a larger sample size using the narrow passage would give better results. FYI this file is a bit bigger so will take longer to download and the audio has a glitch which means it is silent for a couple of seconds near the beginning.
