The inventor of the award-winning Cattle Catcher Crate, Bill Ritchie, has launched another piece of animal handling machinery set to make weighing and tagging lambs a whole lot easier.

A traditional lamb weigher involves opening and closing the entry door, weighing the lamb (which moves around in the cage and upsets the readout) and opening and closing the exit gate.

However, the BIBBB Squeasy Lambweigher (which won a gold award at the Royal Welsh) consists of a platform on which the operator stands, one fixed side (made of expanded flat metal), which the operator leans on, and a bottom-hinged side away from the operator. This also houses the weighscale indicator.

The operator stands on his part of the platform, pressing the button to deduct his own weight.

The lamb then runs between the fixed side and the hinged side and the operator pulls the hinged side towards him/herself, stopping the lamb and keeping it still at the same time. This means the weight shown on the scale is constant rather than fluctuating.

Supplied with the lamb weigher is a foot-operated shedder, enabling the operator to weigh and shed continuously without moving.

The whole unit, including the weigher and display, costs £1600.