Drone Herding Sheep and One Alpaca - Experiment 1

Herding success on my first try!

---

This has been on my mind for a while, the potential to herd the animals around their pen with a drone. Well, today was the day to directly test that possibility. I had seen on my 2nd flight that they could be herded some, but now that my piloting is getting better I am able to keep the drone in proper position.

I decided to try today since I needed to test the narrow 1080-60 setting on my GoPro in flight to see if it removed the guards and landing gear from view. What better test than another test I had wanted to try with the herding? While I filled their water trough I pushed them from their hay bale, past the hut, and started them up the hill.

I kept a low elevation and was within 4 or 5 feet of the hillside a lot of the push. The trees are spaced far enough apart but the brush is all dead sticks which is really hard to see against the hillside. At one point I nearly touched the sheep I with the guards or landing gear.

Figuring I had proved my point I dropped the drone back down the hill just before the battery hit low. You can see I got them almost to the top of the hill where their upper large pen is. I managed to land fairly gently moments before the low battery signal started going off.

Here is the video of Drone Herding Sheep

Camera: GoPro Hero 3 Black

Check out my blog @flemingfarm

For more information about our farm:
Fleming Family Farm
FLEMING FAMILY FARM, LLC
Sustainable & Organic Methods | Heirloom Produce

All images are original works of Fleming Family Farm unless otherwise notated and credited.

If you find this post useful or entertaining, your support is greatly appreciated by upvoting, resteeming, & following!