Calf transport box

[Cowdirt]

Picking up a newborn calf and transporting when necessary is not as easy as it was in my younger days. I'm sure others have ideas about how to handle this job. My solution: I had a three point hitch carry-all frame that I wasn't using; I built a box of plywood and attached it to the frame. The box is solid on the front and both sides. It is open on top and the back. On each side at the rear I put two parallel strips with a gap between them. This provides a track for a slide-up door that is raised just before loading the calf in the rear. Back the tractor right up to the new-born raise the door and scoot him in without lifting him over the top. Of course normal precautions with mama are still required. Make sure mama knows the calf is in the box and she will follow the tractor as you move the calf.

 

[dun]

Mine mounte on the receiver of the mule and is made from cattle panels. Cow can see the calf and follows. The only hard part is sometimes lifting/rolling the calf into the carrier.

 

[Cowdirt]

Mine mounte on the receiver of the mule and is made from cattle panels. Cow can see the calf and follows. The only hard part is sometimes lifting/rolling the calf into the carrier.

Dun, having the visibility of the panels is definitely an up-grade to mine. I have to make sure the cow knows he's in the box. I'm going to think on how I can implement a section of cattle panel in mine without completely rebuilding it.

 

[1982vett]

Mine mounte on the receiver of the mule and is made from cattle panels. Cow can see the calf and follows. The only hard part is sometimes lifting/rolling the calf into the carrier.

Dun, having the visibility of the panels is definitely an up-grade to mine. I have to make sure the cow knows he's in the box. I'm going to think on how I can implement a section of cattle panel in mine without completely rebuilding it.

Get yourself a 4 inch hole saw and cut some holes into the sides.

 

[mobgrazer]

That sounds like it will work. I don't start a diesel unless I need power. I put a plywood divider in a pick up with an 8' bed and a net tail gate. Fill it with hay and stick a kid in the back with the calf. If you remove the kid to the front of the bed you can tag, band, weigh, and what ever else you need to do. But it is still a little worm when we calf.

 

[dun]

Mine mounte on the receiver of the mule and is made from cattle panels. Cow can see the calf and follows. The only hard part is sometimes lifting/rolling the calf into the carrier.

Dun, having the visibility of the panels is definitely an up-grade to mine. I have to make sure the cow knows he's in the box. I'm going to think on how I can implement a section of cattle panel in mine without completely rebuilding it.

Just replace the back with a section of cattle panel. Mine is hinged from one end so I only have to mess with fastening one end if the calf gets rambunctious

 

[Cowdirt]

Some really good ideas thrown out here. I probably will utilize holes in the sides and cattle panel section in one end. Thanks.

 

[backhoeboogie]

My remote hog traps have guilotine doors and will hold 300 lb hogs. They are built with "sheep" panel instead of cow panel and have a 4 inch grid welded to a steel frame. They have caught 400 lb steers in them too. Right now there are no feral hogs anywhere near and the traps are stored. I used one to move a calf and it was great. Each trap is about 46 inches tall & wide and 5 foot long. An old sheet of plywood had to be cut and dropped in the bottom. These will set nicely in the back of a pick up, in the front bucket with a tie, or on the 3 point hay forks.

 

[R. John Johnson]

I built this a number of years ago when I had a few cows that got a little too snotty when they calved.

Those cows have long since gone to hamburger production, but I like the protection of the cage. Never can trust the mother of a newborn.

I need this for cold weather calving. If a calf is born too far from the barn, I have to get it in to the warm. Normally the close cows are right beside the barn, but the odd one sneaks one past me and calves in the main bedding area.

John