Wildrosebeef - Armchair Cattlewoman's BYH Journal

[SmallFarmGirl]

Don't worry, I always wear my seat-belt. It's a good habit I have gotten into, and not something I would like to get out of.

The other number one killer around here is drinking and driving. I don't drink, thankfully, but it's something to remember:

DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE!

YES !!!! BE SAFE! Very important! Many people die from drinking and driving.

 

[elevan]

Congratulations on your license.

On the safety note...wear your seat belt, don't text and drive (or any other distraction while driving). Thankfully drunk driving is going down here in my area but other forms of distraction and impairment are on the rise. They all have the potential to kill or cause serious harm.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Had a weird dream last night (or was it this morning?) about me planning out a good and proper handling facilities for the farm here. Kinda weird as Dad, who has since passed in Dec. 2007 was there in my dream listening to me about what I wanted to do with the current facilities and me drawing out diagrams and stuff about what system would work best for the farm and for easier handling of the steers. What made it even odder was that we were sitting in a new version of the local vet clinic we always go to for medicines for the steers and he had bought a ScourVac medicine along with the usual Vitamin AD500 and the other meds for the new steers we get or are expected to get that night/morning. I think we were sitting there waiting for the vet to come out to talk to us and for Dad to pay for the medicines he had, and while we were there I was talking about improving the facilities and some possible improvements that could/should be made.

Guess it means I both miss Dad still and would really really like to improve the crappy handling facilities we have right now, LOL...and of course to take over the farm to put it as a low-cost, cow-calf or cow-yearling/stocker operation.

Anyway, in a nutshell the current facilities (minus the squeeze chute, which got sold at an auction we had a couple years ago) have quite a few bad spots that need to be taken out and improved on. The "crowding pen" is angled completely wrong and ends too narrow at the start of the working chute or alley. The squeeze chute is positioned at an angle to the loading chute making it impossible to catch any animals that may escape. Three major balking areas: right at the entrance, in the middle of the chute (probably due to shadows cast by the sun in the alleyway itself), and right to the entrance of the squeeze chute.

Three things I want to do to improve this: 1) move the squeeze chute so that it is around 8 to 10' behind the loading chute, which will move the 20' long alley 16 to 20' back from its current position, 2) making the crowding pen so that 10' of fence extends behind and parallel to the alleyway, and angle another 8 or 10' of fence at a 30 degree angle to the alleyway, adding a gate that will literally ratchet the animals into the alleyway, and 3) build/renovate the working alley so that it can angle into the other side, making an angled alleyway that can be easily adjusted according to the size of the cattle that are going through it. Currently it is 30" wide, and not angled, making it very easy for 6-month old 5 to 6 wt. steers to turn around in. If I can cut one side of the alley, weld hinges at the top bar and extend the bottom pipes so that a ratchet system can be made to make the working facility both adjustable and stable enough that cattle cannot move it, then I think that would be much better than investing $4000 on a new working chute. I'd have to reinforce the sides with bars that angle into the soil to keep it from moving. May be a dumb idea, but then it may be a good one that will need a lot of planning, drawing and arithmetic to perfect.

I've also played around with using grain-bin bottoms as a crowding tub, welding or bolting angle-iron bars as ratchets to the walls. Other ideas are to replace the chains on the gates with pull-type locking mechanisms that are much faster, more efficient and far safer to use than screwing around with a bloody chain at the risk of a cow or bull nailing the gate as you're standing there trying to get the chain in the hook.

Boy if I can apprentice or take a course in welding I'd be having NO trouble at all building my own facilities, not to mention other things that may come in handy...

Any opinions? I'll post something like this in the cattle forum here on BYC sometime soon this week (if I remember...) with a picture of the plans I've been goofing around with for any thoughts and ideas.

But man oh man those darn facilities bug the heck outta me....guess that's why I had that dream like I did!!

 

[redtailgal]

Sorry, lol, I am REALLY bad at envisioning things from written word. I am a dense draw me a pic kinda girl.

That being said.....I'll tell you what I hate about the setup on my friends ranch in Kansas , so that you can think on that too. (big help, arent I).

The opening to the "run" is two narrow, and is in the middle of the corral area. I wish it were wider, and closer to the corner, so that it would be easier to get the cattle to make the turn. As it is right now, it the lead cow blows past the opening, the whole herd follows her. It takes two extra people to block them into making that turn, and with these simple changes, I could work the corral alone.

Also, the corral is "z" shaped, allowing us to have some ease in sorting. They go in at the bottom section of the Z.......and at each bend of the z is a gate which can open into a small holding pen. At the end of the Z is the separating area......it widens slightly, with several gates that lead to six additional chutes with presses at the end of each one. At the end of these chutes is loading "dock".....it ends with two panel gates that swing freely, allowing us to back in a trailer and load them right up. Throughout the chute are smaller gates, allowing us to stop traffic if needed, or allowing for the cattle to be sorted into various holding pens. It's a great setup, but there are too many corners........it needs to be rounded out some so that the smartest one in the group doesnt get in that corner and balk up.

I wish I could get you some pics of that corral system. Despite the problems mentioned above, with 10 people we were able to move 600 head thru there (including 8 bulls), doing preg checks, vaccination, banding, branding etc. all while sorting to various holding pens, and did so quickly and without stressing or exhausting the cattle.

 

[SheepGirl]

I love reading your journal. It's always so informative.

My neighbor's barns were built by the original owner of the house who was a cattle dealer, so all the handling facilities and pens and such inside the barns are built for cattle. (Though I'm not sure about the chute inside one of the barns with the head gate...looks to small to be for cattle and the turn looks to be too sharp.)

(Sorry for the dirtiness...we never use this part of the barn so it collects cobwebs )

This shows the top of the gate into the chute...on the right is the area where the handlers stand.

This shows the head gate (the string used to move the bars still works!) and the gate that leads to the handlers area.

This is an up-close view of the head gate...like I said, it doesn't really look like it's the right size for cattle. The place where the bar is in the ground even looks too narrow for sheep, but we've never tried it.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

I need to get some pics up here of the current system we have. I got a few of the old squeeze chute we had (must be at least 40 or even 50 years old), and probably some others on my photobucket account that I'll post here....

This is a diagram of the current system (not to scale...)

See where the problems lie that I was talking about? I know for sure Temple Grandin would tear her hair out if she seen this sort of system LOL!

This is one of the diagrams I've been playing around with that could be an improved system:

Probably too many catch/holding pens in this system, but enough to separate cattle out into groups. Of course this diagram is also not to scale, as when I drew this out I didn't take into account the length of the barn, the pigshed, nor the distance from the barn to the pigshed, or to the waterer. I've been working on a plan that DOES take these dimensions into account and may post it here sometime in the near future.

 

[redtailgal]

That would work well, I think. I'd make sure that my gates were all free swinging though, so they could be used to keep cattle from backing up in the chutes.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

That would work well, I think. I'd make sure that my gates were all free swinging though, so they could be used to keep cattle from backing up in the chutes.

Dad put in a gate for that purpose, since if/when he'd put in too many calves in the chute the last bunch would back up or pile on top of each other--literally! The free-swinging gate in that chute (which I drew in on that diagram there) was put in to prevent this, and boy has it helped. Might have to invent something different though if the adjustable working chute idea works out...then again maybe not....

I know in the new system I'll have to make for some more man-gates to make possible escape routes, as there's nothing worse than getting cornered by a peed bull or cow with no way out but up or between the bars of the fence.

 

[redtailgal]

Man gates are a must.

Hubby does not know this so SHHHHHHH!!!!!

Last time I was working cattle in Kansas, we had several hundred we were moving thru the chutes. I went in the chute to shut a gate to prevent backflow when the person behind me (who wasnt paying attention) opened another gate, sending a VERY angry bull before I was ready. I was to shut the backflow gate, and then open the gate to a separate holding area for him, but had some trouble with a rusty latch.

Well, the bull was fast, but this short little fat chick was faster. There was no man gate so I did this really cool Super Mario move.....bounced off the panel, onto the bull's nose and over the top of the panel before the bull realized that I was there. Of course, after that, I went all Mario upside dumb-butt's head for not paying enough attention while I was in the chute.

A man gate would have saved several years off my life!

 

[WildRoseBeef]

And of course a good man gate can't be one where you have to screw around with a bloody chain. Ever since I've helped the vet with working with cattle in a handling facility I've loved the latches where they simply lock when you push them shut. That's what a good man-gate should have, not some stupid chains.