Cattle chute opinions!

[farmertucker]

I am currently making a catch pen/ working chute with a head gate at end of chute. I was hoping this would be a general purpose pen that I can feed in as well or load them from the chute if needed. I am making it out of 4x6x10 oak posts with oak side boards. The back section around around 40ft will be two 16ft corral panels so that I can keep it open when not needing to be penned up or so I can push them towards chute. But my question is I would like to use corral panels for the chute as well but of course set them with posts but raise the panels about a ft off the ground to be a total of about 6-7 ft high. Any opinions or should I just stick with wood chute?

 

[farmertucker]

Nobody?

 

[greybeard]

Are you saying you would raise the chute panels 1 ft off the ground MORE than they already come from the factory? That will increase the height but it will leave a pretty big gap down at the ground too. I'd be worried about leg injuries.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

wood.

 

[NMVaquero]

If I understand right...
Our setup is similar in a few spots to what you are planning.
Honestly bent panels suck. Go with wood and make it easy to maintain and replace pieces as needed.

 

[bird dog]

a foot off the ground in a chute won't be a problem. The animals won't be able to turn sideways to go under but as the poster mentioned a foot can go through. My chute is built with the panel 10" or so off the ground and I haven't had any problems. The bottom of the panels are usually smaller openings than the top. Usually they just paw at it and the angle is too steep for the hoof to go through. It is a cheap easy way to make a strong alley. Mine are welded to steel posts and cross members. Good Luck