Cattle Handling Facilities

Cattle handling facilities are an essential part of any cattle operation. If well-built and functional, they contribute much to the easy, safe and rapid handling of cattle. Good handling facilities need not be overly expensive. It pays to invest in quality for some of the critical areas such as pressure treated posts, a good squeeze, and sturdy gates and latches. Every cattleman’s needs and situation is different. Some can build directly from plan leaflets, others will have to redesign the handling system to fit their farmsteads and individual requirements. Design assistance is available from Two-W Livestock Equipment Ltd. Attention to the ways cattle react, and to the designs we offer, will help make the operation more successful.

Cattle Behavior – Operator Response

Handling cattle will be much easier if livestock behavior is understood. For example, cattle
have panoramic vision. Cattle can see all around without turning their heads. This affects their response to their environment and actions of the cattle handler. Other behavior and implications follow.

Herd Instinct

All species of livestock will follow the leader. This instinct is strong in cattle. The single file chute should be long enough to take advantage of this tendency. The minimum length for a single file chute is 20 ft. (6 m). In larger facilities, 30 to 50 ft. (9 to 15 m) is recommended. Cattle, when isolated, can become agitated and stressed. When a lone animal refuses to move, the handler should release it from the crowding pen and bring it back with another group of cattle.

Response To Light

Cattle are fearful of harsh contrasts of light and dark around loading chutes, scales and working areas. Illumination should be uniform and there should be no sudden changes in floor level and texture. Sunshades, if used over the working, loading and scale area, should be solid, not slatted. Slatted shades are fine for areas where the cattle live and feel familiar. However, when coming into handling areas, they are often nervous and may balk at a slotted sunshade. Cattle have a tendency to move towards the light. For example, when loading cattle at night, a frosted light inside the truck positioned so that it does not glare in their faces can help attract the cattle in. However, livestock will balk if they have to look directly into the sun. Loading chutes and squeeze chutes should face either north or south to maximize sun angle and minimize shadows. Sometimes it is difficult to persuade cattle to enter a roofed working area, especially in bright sunlight. Balking will be reduced if the single file chute is extended 10 to 16 ft. (3 to 5 m) outside the building. Animals will enter more easily if they are lined up single file before they enter a dark building. The walls of the building should never be placed at the junction between the single file chute and the crowding pen. A pattern of alternating light and dark causes cattle to balk, and they refuse to cross a shadow. Balking can also be caused by a small, bright spot in the chute. Handlers should be cautious about causing shadows.

Response To Movement

Cattle will balk if they see a moving or flapping object. Before moving or loading cattle, walk through the chute and check for obstructions at the cow’s eye level. When cattle are being worked, handlers should stand back from the headgate so that the approaching animals cannot see them with their wide-angle vision. One animal that balks seems to spread its fear to the next animal in line. When an animal is being moved through a single file chute, do not frustrate the animal by prodding it before an opening can be seen as a place to go. A plastic garbage bag attached to a broom handle is a good tool for moving cattle in pens. The cattle move away from the rustling plastic. When cattle are being moved, well-trained dogs are recommended for open areas and large pens. However, once the animals are confined in the crowding pen and single file chute, do not allow the dogs near the fences where they can bite the cattle. The sides of the crowding pen, single file chute and loading chute should be solid. Solid sides prevent the animals from seeing people, equipment and other outside distractions. The funnel entrance from the crowding pen to the chute should have one continuous, straight wall, never a symmetrical funnel. The crowding pen gate works best with latch-stops at several points in its swing, to help move animals into the chute with little effort. Cattle in a handling facility should be able to see other animals along the chute in front of them. Cattle will balk if a chute appears to be a dead end. Sliding and one-way gates in the single file chute must be constructed so that the animals can see through them.