# Handling facilities



## FarmerDavid (Jul 16, 2012)

I don't know when I'm going to have the chance to build the facilities that I want but I've decided to at least get some ideas down in paper. Currently my land will stock 40 pairs. I've looked all over the net at stuff but do have a few questions. I'm wanting to build sorting/holding pens. Is 20'x20' to small? I origionally planned on bigger pens but they seem to big. I don't want to get to big of a pen because at times I'll be having to do the work myself. I'd also like a bigger weaning pen. Anything that you've found really useful?


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## ramiller5675 (Mar 31, 2009)

I built a set of pens similar to one suggested for small herds (40-50 cows) in a publication put out by Oklahoma State University - Modern Corral Design - OKE-938. It's not available online, so you'll have to buy the actual 60 page book from somewhere like Purdue University. https://mdc.itap.purdue.edu/item.asp?Item_Number=OKE-938#.Vg7vzm6RqFQ

It's basically two pens with a crowding tub and chute in between them. One pen is 24x40, the other pen is 36x40 with the chute opening into it, and it has a 12 ft. quarter crowding tub in between. 

I'd think that a 20x20 pen would be too small.

The best advice I've seen is to use something like matchsticks (to represent a 12 ft. panel, etc.) to lay out your pen design before building anything.


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## COWS (Dec 23, 2012)

20 x 20 is too small for a catch pen. IMO the catch pen should be large enough to hold the entire herd, but if you have 40 pairs that will take a large pen. The idea in handling cows is to get them to go into the pen voluntarily so you can shut the gate(s) on them without exciting them too much. The ideal way to accomplish this is to have the only source of water in the pen. Sooner or later, they will go to water. Feed and salt usually works, but there is always a hard headed cow who is wary of the pen. 

Portable corral panels of thin pipe that can be fastened together are helpful in expanding the facility or changing the way cattle are directed for handling. 10 or 12 of them in connection to some permanent corral fencing should be enough. A corral fence and especially the loading chute should be 6 1/2 feet high IME. Posts should be 6 feet apart, or proper distanced to make the best use of lumber or panels.

It is very helpful in catching cattle to have the pen as part of the direct route between 2 parts of the pasture. If they get used to using the pen to go between the 2 parts they are much easier to catch.

To load cattle, what has worked for me is to have a gate in part of the loading chute which is left open normally so the cows get used to going out that way. When you want to load some, shut the gate and get them in the pen by whatever means. Drive them toward the chute entrance and they will go down it thinking they are getting as normal. Have the chute gate arranged so that it normally blocks the chute that leads to the loading ramp. When the gate is shut the way to the loading part of the chute is open and they are on the trailer before they realize what is happening. 

If you are going to have a head gate (recommended) you can have an offshoot from the loading chute to put the head gate on.

Other advice is available from us if needed.

COWS


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## rosalind (Oct 6, 2014)

One large pen to hold the entire herd if needed. That can be divided with gates so you can sort out groups.

Our calf barn is built that way, a long narrow barn with freestalls on one side and hay bunk on the other. Gates divide them into groups of 10, but the gates can be all opened up so the barn can be scraped out, or pen sizes could be adjusted larger or smaller.


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## slingshot (Jun 25, 2014)

I have a 30x 30 holding pen with a long narrow alley built next to it as a chute. 

There's a front gate that stays open, we water and supplemental feed the cattle in the pen so they walk the chute every day. 

Gates are accessible from the outside so when the cows are at the feeder I can close them in, then I hop over and close the front chute gate. When I open the gate from the coral I can run them in the chute and close the gate behind them. 

I'll put the trailer at the end of the chute for loading and run them into the chute and once the gate closes they have no place to go but forward. I may add a middle chute gate so I can have divided groups waiting to load. 

Hope this helps


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

I do not have any good pics of my handling area. This pic may help with some ideas of how to get started. Initially the pen was 50' x 50'. I used repurposed highway guardrail materials(cheap) and a portion from a grain bin (cheaper). Since then I had to build a staging area out of recycled chain link fence as the original handling area became significantly too small to process the herd. I now confine the herd in the staging area and cut out roughly 10 to 15 head at a time to sort. Animals not going on a trip are released into an adjacent paddock and the process is repeated until all animals have been sorted. Those going on the "trip" are held in a portion of the initial sorting area and a trailer is backed into a loading area. The livestock trailer that is transporting those taking the "trip" has the back gates opened, the rear of the trailer is only a few inches off the ground as the ramp is sloped. The "trip" animals (20 to 30 head) are all brought into the pen back of the trailer and loaded as a group. Usually this takes only a few minutes and then they are off and on the road.


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## FarmerDavid (Jul 16, 2012)

Good info. 

So would a 20x30 pen be big enough. I'm thinking two or three pens with an alley that I can use to sort and take to a tub/chute.


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## gwithrow (Feb 5, 2005)

the most helpful thing to me was to have our county extension agent come out and offer design ideas...he works cattle often and knows how they 'think'...once we had a plan we could then use the materials that we could afford and that were available to us...

there is no substitute for experience, we will all be there someday and can then say' I wish I had known'....so use other people's experience to your advantage..there is no reason to reinvent the wheel...seek out people who have already been where you want to be, who can come over and walk out your setting...then you can implement what you can afford, in stages if need be...

biggest mistake I have made so far was to use my car to reinforce a gate in a 'turn' as the cows were supposed to head into the barn/chute....biggest cow I had jumped over old/weak gate right onto the hood of the car....she had never jumped before...I will never put a car there again.........and I bought the heaviest duty gate I could buy, with a 2x8 going over the top to make it even higher.....


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## Allen W (Aug 2, 2008)

Link to Oklahoma State ag extension cattle working facilities fact sheet. http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-1998/BAE-1219web.pdf

Their recommendation is 20 sq ft for each animal 1200 lbs and over and 10 sq ft for up to 600 lbs. So a 20x30 pen wouldn't be big enough for 40 pairs. You would still need a corral or trap pen to bring them into big enough they can come in with out being crowded.


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## cfuhrer (Jun 11, 2013)

Some good info on corral dimensions for herd size at both these places.

Temple Grandin:
http://www.grandin.com/

The OK Corral:
http://ackermansonline.com/dist/okportablecorral.htm


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

Our working pens were 8 16'x 24', 4 to each side. hay bunks on the outside. The 8 gates were 16', alley was 16'. Gates would swing into the pens, latch across the alleys or their pen. so the gates could be latched to make 8 pens, 4 pens, 2 pens or 1 big pen. 16' gates at both ends of the alley. Used the alley as the sorting area. There was also a holding pen at 1 end of the alley, the width of the alley and 1 holding pen, this gate swung both ways, into and out of the sorting alley. Lots of ways to go with cattle. Rail road ties and rough cut 2"x8" lumber. Powder river gates, sliding latches and locks....James

Page 3 first one under gates, the classic model.

http://www.powderriver.com/files/Mini_Catalogs/PR_GatesPanelsGuards.pdf


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## cowbelle (Mar 5, 2009)

Do read up on Temple Grandin's designs - she's revolutionized livestock handling facilities by understanding how stock "think". Using her theories lets stock move with less stress, which makes the entire job less stressful for the humans involved also. There was a commercial movie made of her life which is worth renting.


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## FarmerDavid (Jul 16, 2012)

cowbelle said:


> Do read up on Temple Grandin's designs - she's revolutionized livestock handling facilities by understanding how stock "think". Using her theories lets stock move with less stress, which makes the entire job less stressful for the humans involved also. There was a commercial movie made of her life which is worth renting.


I've scoured her web site recently and watched some you tube videos. I've only had cows 4 years now but already figured out its a lot easier to get a cow to go somewhere if she thinks its her idea then by forcing her. There may come a point where force becomes necessary butstaying calm and patient has worked well in my experience and ties into a lot of her ideas. 

I just worry about getting to big of a pen for when I'm working by myself. I'm working around some existing structures but it would be possible to put a bigge pen on one side of the alley with some smaller ones on the other. I like the concept of her diagonal pens. I might try to work one into the design, but I really want the pens to double as a place to house a cow if need be and I don't know if the diagonal pens will work as well for that. I'm trying to get something drawn up so maybe I can post the pic for critiques.


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