1982vett":38w5va8c said:
Not sure of a need for a "market holding pen" for just one animal when you already have three other holding pens plus all the other alleys. I think it looks a bit "tight" from a cows perspective with that many pens....
Great point... I will probably remove the market pen and utilize one of the others and redo the loading bay to shoot off the chute alley. Do you think the pens aren't big enough? Should I have left them bigger? I'm hoping to only put approximately 20-25 head in each pen. How big are yours and how many head do you run in 'em?
Now that I comprehend your pen sizes, your overall working area is probably a little larger than mine where mine handles 30 well. For larger herds I just don't try to run the all through at once. I take the ones eager to go then make another sweep for the rest when the first run is done. Here is a google maps pic of one of setups i use the most. The blue scribbles on the second image were added to try to show the gates and actions.
You can't see the "pivot" swing gate going to the chute because it is under the barn, it is a 10 ft gate and swings 180 degrees and opens to make and "alley (with the help of another panel) under the barn. As I mention, I handle mine by myself so that is the reason for all the catch pens. The largest group I have right now is a group of 30 which the smaller catch handles very well. the alley on the left is 12 x 60ish. I had to add that because over time the cows learned the setup and wouldn't enter the pen. Now they don't know they are being penned until they hit the closed gates, but with myself and my dog behind they go in. The barn is 5 ten foot bays and the pen extends about 5 extra feet on the right so that would be 55 feet on that side and about 30 feet in front of the barn (in additon to the the 10 feet under)
This is another setup...pretty much the same design logic with a "trap" large enough the cattle don't feel trapped while I'm penning them. It is a little larger and handles up to 60 head well.
1982vett":38w5va8c said:
....The swing gate (crowing gate) in the first plan is way better than the second. Lengthen the ally to the working area by moving it all the way to the front corner....
Most all the plans I saw seemed to utilize my first drafts crowding gate design but Dirty Boots' suggestion seemed to be a good one and I can see how it may work better which is why I changed tune. Have you any experience with the design from my second draft? Do you experience what he sees with the 1st style where the cattle turn and face the pivot point of the gate?
I have only used the style in the first drawing, but working alone I think the second isn't efficient and being I like to try to keep something between me and my cattle in close quarters, I believe the second would not fill that need when trying to close the gate so for me it is a safety issue.
1982vett":38w5va8c said:
....Locate a few access gates to shorten some of those walks.
Guilty about being lazy and not putting those on paper just like the swinging gates. All gates have possibility of opening either direction just never annotated it on paper on 1st. Will put those in the next one after I hear back on which crowding tub design may be superior over the other. Crowding tub changes alot of things regarding design and size of things so definitely want to drill down what design I should use.
EDIT* any recommendations on where I could use them at? After looking at it I was honestly only planning on putting one directly above the working area at the tip of where the crowd gate would be so I can get in and out of there. Should I put them anywhere else?
greenhorn remember :mrgreen: lol I'm actually taking that gate out on the next plan and just putting posts and boards across with access point to the front of the chute. Great call!
