Best design for permanent facilities?

[kenny thomas]

Come look at mine next time your up here.

 

[JMJ Farms]

In the process of rebuilding mine right now. So far I've got a 100'x105' pen made of guardrail. I think I've got the interior layout worked out but I'm thinking of doing it with HD panels just in case I want to reconfigure. Three
things I want for sure.
1) Alley stops
2) Several Holding pens
3) All gates to swing! Lol
Every lot I've ever had someone else built before I came along. In every one, the headgate/squeeze opened up to the outside of the lot. This one definitely will not. It opens up and the cows can go one of three directions depending on gates. Load out pen to right. Holding pens to left. Or straight out into pasture. They are expensive but I don't believe you can have too many gates.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

I second you on the gates.

 

[Dave]

I am in the process of tearing down most of the old corral and installing new. I am keeping the same foot print and using the same kind of material. It is basically about 2/3 of an acre. Three larger pens and two small ones. Think of a square divided into four minus one of the the quarters. That is the basic shape Two of the big pens have a feed bunk and a three sided shed. #1 has a 14 by 40 shed and 84 feet of bunk. The other #2 has a 12 by 36 shed and 60 feet of feed bunk. The two small pens fed into an alley to the squeeze chute which dumped into big pen three. There was no way to easily load out. The trailer had to be pulled into pen three and backed up to the chute. The neighbors who have done that cussed the system. Also anyone who used that chute cussed it too. I took that chute out and will replace it with the newer chute which I brought with me. The chute will now face the other way and empty into the 2 small pens which will empty into the bigger of the feed pens or into pen 3. About 40% of pen 3 will be an alley, two small sorting pens, my sweep tub, crowd alley, squeeze chute, and a curved alley out the the driveway to load out of. I am building out of RR ties and lodge pole pine poles. A permit from the Forest Service cost 3 cents per foot for the poles. The RR ties cost me $18 each for 9 foot ties. I plan to bury the ties 3 feet deep and go 8 rails high. When I was looking at the place my realtor told me he had helped cut the poles (his parents have a ranch about 5 miles from here). Then he got to thinking. He was about 10 when they cut the poles. He is 42 now. I figure if this replacement last another 32 years...... well I will be 99 years old and probably not working a lot of cows. I will draw up my design and scan it and try to post it here.

 

[Caustic Burno]

I used the minimum working pen design on this site for my layout.

https://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$Departmen ... _723-1.pdf

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

I used the minimum working pen design on this site for my layout.

https://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$Departmen ... _723-1.pdf

Good resource.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Great link cb. Appreciate it

No problem
I tweaked the design a little as the loading chute isn't elevated.
I did use the design dimensions for the 35 worked perfectly for 38 all were nice and tight. Added some extra gates through the years.

I got tired of rebuilding pens through the years made this one out of drill stem.

Couple of pics. Just for ideas to kick around. I have come to conclusion there is no perfect pen . I designed this for one old man.

 

[shaz]

If you're working by yourself you need as many pens as possible. On the other hand, I helped a guy you had 3 good local cattlemen helping him and he just had one pen that fed into a sweep tub into the longest alley I've seen.

Labor dictates what you build IMO.

 

[76 Bar]

Have that resource filed on my computer CB. Excellent info and impressive set of working corrals.
Often overlooked is the light source be it outside or indoors. Chute facing North in our hemisphere is important...for both cattle and workers.
Dandy looking terrier...good vermin dog?

 

[Caustic Burno]

Have that resource filed on my computer CB. Excellent info and impressive set of working corrals.
Often overlooked is the light source be it outside or indoors. Chute facing North in our hemisphere is important...for both cattle and workers.
Dandy looking terrier...good vermin dog?

She lives for it.

 

[76 Bar]

She lives for it.

Thought so...love her take no prisoners presence. Lucky you. :heart:

 

[Aaron]

After building my corral with all portable components (self-standing panels out of new 2 3/8 pipe, etc.), I'll never build a permanent corral again. Being able to change things on a whim and remove it all and sell it at auction tomorrow for 90-120% of what I paid for it is priceless - a practical investment. A number of old-timer neighbors have done the same with their corrals and they love them for the same reasons.

 

[Dave]

I took old poles off parts of the old corral that I took down, laid them out in the design I was planning. Even though I had measured and marked it on the ground and designed it on paper it helped me visualize it better. I found several things which needed change.

Gates. The old corral has 10 existing gates. I figured that I will be adding 11 more. I am sure glad that when I sold the place over on the coast I took down a lot of gates and brought them with me.

 

[Ranch7DK]

I would urge you to put a cover over the working are. Not so much for complete rain protection, but for shade. Shade for you and the animals -i believe helps with stress to not let them overheat.

 

[gcreekrch]

I used the minimum working pen design on this site for my layout.

https://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$Departmen ... _723-1.pdf

Them Texas Braymers work in a Canadian layout without getting confused?

 

[Caustic Burno]

I used the minimum working pen design on this site for my layout.

https://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$Departmen ... _723-1.pdf

Them Texas Braymers work in a Canadian layout without getting confused?

Not at all, I just had them put on jackets before entering.

 

[backhoeboogie]

My working pens get worked a few times each year. My pastures are a daily routine. I like rotating pasture and when I rotate, they go down the lane to the working pens. The cows look forward to going down that alley.

 

[bird dog]

Sometimes less is better. The comment on knowing your labor source is an important one. While my new pens will hold all my cows and calves at one time, I have found it much easier to leave the majority out of the main pens and work inside the pen area about 10 to 15 at a time. It is much easier to sort from a small group and the small calves don't get beat up or smashed up against the sides,

I have found that the cows left outside in the holding area see that the ones before them have been worked and released back to the pasture. The last groups will be ready to get it over with and readily move into the pens.

It is also much cheaper to build a small sturdy pressure area and some larger pens that don't have to be as stout.

The chute after the squeeze can go to the pasture or back into the pens. This is critical.
I always work the cows first and sort off the calves. This year I cross fenced the pasture where the pens dump out to so that the area is only about 6 or 7 acres. This keeps the cows close and and gets them easily back with their calf when it works later.