A Yorkshire hill farmer turned inventor has built a clever sheep trailer that doubles up as a snacker and lamb transporter.

Jonathan Caygill came up with the idea for the trailer while working on his farm in the village of Rylstone near Skipton. He wanted to be able to head up to the hills with a hopper full of feed and come back down with ewes and lambs on board.

The Easy Sheep Feed Trailer has a hopper at the front that holds up to 275kg of feed. Once in the field the feed is released by pulling a rope attached to a sprung lever. There’s a stop to adjust how far the lever opens and stowage hooks for the rope when moving between fields.

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When the hopper is empty the lid can be dropped in to the bottom giving a safe place for holding up to 12 lambs. Six ewes can then be put in the back of the trailer.

There are more handy features, too. There’s a cubby under the left side of the hopper that can be used for medicines, towels or transporting sick lambs and crook holder by the tailgate. Holes have also been drilled down the sides of the trailer. Bars can be inserted through these to keep extra drums of cake or small bales in place.

Mr Caygill is selling his Easy Sheep Feed Trailers for £1,400 plus VAT. He’s also designed a simple harness for lifting cows with a set of pallet forks. The Easy Cow Lift costs £345 plus VAT.