Treadmills

[EmsoffLambs]

I am thinking about trying treadmilling. There are a ton of human treadmills on Craigslist for next to nothing. Can anyone post pictures of how they've converted a human treadmill to work for lambs and share their treadmilling routine? We are looking for muscle definition, not weight control.

[Don Drewry]

I can't find pictures of the ones we made.  The box isn't that much different than the training box shown on that thread.  We bought a Sydel head piece with a bracket that we bolted to the 2x6 lower frame.  For building leg muscle we had a platform the front feed would stand on.  We put hinged doors on the front and back.  The first one we built we out of scrap lumber.  Plywood was a lot stronger and more stable when we did another one.  The tread mills would wear out after a year or 2 and we'd just buy a "new" one for $25-$50 rather than repair them  But, each one would have a different shape and we'd either build a new box or modify an old one.

[SnarkyArkie]

[SnarkyArkie]

The frame is made to take off and weld frame onto a "new" treadmill. This treadmill is our second. the first one had hoof grooves worn into the plywood under the tread and the belt was wearing out. This frame had a head piece in front for walking forward only. I probably could have figured out how to reverse the motor but instead we do the following...
1. Back the lambs into the treadmill, set front feet onto wood box that sits against the back of the tread mill.(front feet should ideally be as close to level with back feet as possible)
2. Butt a shearing stand against the little wooden box so the stand helps hold box in place.
3. Turn the head piece around backwards on the stand and place lambs head into the head piece.
4 Kid sits on shearing stand facing the lamb and watches for front feet to come off box while the lamb treadmills.

Probably not ideal for many people but it has worked well for us for last 5-6 years.  Treadmills are anywhere from free-$50 on craigslist. We will probably start watching for a replacement soon so we don't have any down time if this one dies on us. Seems like a good idea to keep a spare ready rather than look when you need it and not find the right one.

[EmsoffLambs]

Thanks, Snarkie. This looks really simple. I like the idea of the fitting stand with the kid sitting on it to.

So next question, what is your treadmilling routine? We need to keep these lambs growing all the way through and I've heard you can mess them up doing it too much. How many minutes how many days per week? And what speed do you work up to?

[SnarkyArkie]

Our routine once they get the hang of it is 3-5 minutes of fast walk to almost a jog, every other day with day of rest in between. Our treadmill reads at 2-2.5 mph but that may vary in treadmills depending how accurate they are. Our old one seemed to read faster than this one but the belt did slip a bit.

At first we put them in and just get them used to the motion for about 30-60 seconds at very low speed and increase as needed. While the kid is at the front of the lamb, I watch the back legs and control the speed. Then build up to the 3-5 minutes as each lambs coordination allows. We used to track on the off days, but I think we will track and treadmill all on same days with complete rest on off days. Heard that suggestion this spring so we will try it. We haven't messed any up, but we are pretty careful to watch for different behaviors, gait or eating habits.

[EmsoffLambs]

Thanks. I don't think we will be running these lambs. Not enough time. Fair is about 60 days out and we have about 40 lbs to put on them, so no room for slowing growth. They are looking good with some thickness, I'd just like to get some increased definition for that extra edge.

[SnarkyArkie]

I think you will like the results with just treadmilling. It should do what you want it to.

[coondawg]

I took Snarkys design and made ours but we just used all wood works pretty good.  I still believe in all 2 walker, track and tread.  Each one serves different purposes.

[EmsoffLambs]

What is the purpose of the walker?

[SnarkyArkie]

I'd be willing to bet that you and Frank are slick enough to figure out how to mount that new "box" you built onto the treadmill and use treadmill as I do and spin the lamb around and hold their heads up while walking to mimic the walker. Then you could just stand them in the box with heads tied up and treadmill turned off, walk them as a walker or spin them around and work those muscles. Hmmmm, Maybe I will build that for Dustin when I get back from Sedalia.

Sometimes my genius even surprises me.

[AF32197]

Crystal. we had basically a box like Darren's except we had our mounted the other way  so we walked the back legs only backwards. Had the crate partially off the treadmill with a board across for the front feet. Like Don we had a gate on the front end with a head piece mounted to hold the lambs. We walked them 2-3 minutes at a very moderate speed. 3 days a week.  We had a 6 lamb walker for the forward walking part.

[tsylvester]

Here is the one we made.  It was a standard treadmill off craigslist and I framed it with 1 inch square tubing.  It has held up real good.  My suggestion is to get as nice of one as you can find.  The cheapos have small motors, thin belts and weaker frames.

[JParish]

When using the regular treadmills, is there a concern for urine and feces?!?

[tsylvester]

Urine and feces are only an issue with a household treadmill if the motor is reversed.  If left alone the "stuff" runs out the back of the treadmill and piles up on the ground at the end of the treadmill, if the motor is reversed it will run into the area containing the motor (bad).  We just put the lamb on backwards if we want to do backwards exercise.