Holding Pen

[HOSS]

Finally got my holding pen finished this weekend. I needed a large pen to hold cows being synched, sick or injured ones or ones in quarantine. I have been working on it every dry evening after work. It is roughly 2/3 acre in size. I uses telephone pole butt ends for the wood posts and put an 8' T-Post in every 10 feet. I stretched 6 strands of barbed wire with the top strand being 5 feet high (I still have to put up a hot wire). I installed a 16' gate at one end and a double 10' gate at the other so I can drive through it with just about any implement on my tractor. I set the telephone pole butt ends 3ft deep with 160 lbs of quick-crete in each hole. I wanted the pen to be extra strong and extra tall. If I am synching up heifers in it I do not want the bull going through it or over it before I have a chance to get the bred via A.I. The holding pen is attached to a 25' wide alley that leads to another smaller holding pen that is attached to my sweep, alley and squeeze chute. I can now keep those synched cows or heifers in the larger pen for the 9 or 10 days needed to get them ready to breed without a lot of work getting them up to give the shots or insert / remove the CIDR's. It has shade and wind break and I have installed a 160 gallon water trough with a float regulator. I am hoping that since it will make A.I. easier I will do more of it.

 

[Jogeephus]

Just a suggestion but you might consider putting some posts inside the pen to give you something to hide behind if one gets rank because you won't be climbing out of there.

 

[HOSS]

Just a suggestion but you might consider putting some posts inside the pen to give you something to hide behind if one gets rank because you won't be climbing out of there.

You would be surprised at how "athletic" I can be when properly motivated by a 1,400 lb ticked off bovine :mrgreen:

 

[Fly-guy]

Jog, I was passing by Hoss's catch pen the other and thought I'd share it with you :lol2:

 

[HOSS]

Jog, I was passing by Hoss's catch pen the other and thought I'd share it with you :lol2:

Fly-guy............that was my pens BEFORE I made improvements. I have now doubled the size and installed state of the art infrastructure. I think I can now wear my big hat, belt buckle and drive my F350 Dually with real pride in knowing that I am finally a cattleman's cattleman :cowboy: :mrgreen:

 

[Fly-guy]

:tiphat: Hoss, I didn't realize that it was that flat in Middle Tennessee.

 

[HOSS]

:tiphat: Hoss, I didn't realize that it was that flat in Middle Tennessee.

Normally it is not. There has always been a theory that Tennessee is bigger than Texas it just has to be ironed out. I am working on proving this theory and I have started on my own farm. I have ironed it out and expanded my 75 acre parcel into 750. I think when we are done with the state Texans will be looking at our massive spreads in awe :mrgreen: :cowboy:

 

[HDRider]

:tiphat: Hoss, I didn't realize that it was that flat in Middle Tennessee.

Normally it is not. There has always been a theory that Tennessee is bigger than Texas it just has to be ironed out. I am working on proving this theory and I have started on my own farm. I have ironed it out and expanded my 75 acre parcel into 750. I think when we are done with the state Texans will be looking at our massive spreads in awe :mrgreen: :cowboy:

Now that there's funny. I don't care who you are...

 

[3waycross]

:tiphat: Hoss, I didn't realize that it was that flat in Middle Tennessee.

Normally it is not. There has always been a theory that Tennessee is bigger than Texas it just has to be ironed out. I am working on proving this theory and I have started on my own farm. I have ironed it out and expanded my 75 acre parcel into 750. I think when we are done with the state Texans will be looking at our massive spreads in awe :mrgreen: :cowboy:

:tiphat: :lol2: :lol2:

 

[dun]

I only can think of one problem. Barbwire for a working facility where you will be pushing cattle is poor idea. Nicks and gouges and the cow possibly being pushed through.

 

[inyati13]

Hoss, dun's point is important. Even as gentle as my cows are and as much as I work them, I have already had to do modifications on my working facilities. One of my cows that is very atheletic went over a 5 1/2 foot wall of 8 foot treated posts (2 1/2 feet in the ground) with cattle panel and a board on top. If there had been barbed wire up there, I have no doubt that cow would have had injuries that might have sent her to the yards. She went up on her back legs, bellied down on the board, and kicked herself over with her back legs after a slight delay while every thing was being mashed down. I was not even pushing her. And I do not hit a cow unless it is a situation coming down to strictly protecting myself. This was not even in the crowding pen but one of the separating areas leading to where you start crowding them into the sweep. She is one of the smarter cows by my analysis and she did not want to be worked. So she said, I'm leaving, bye.

You learn fast in this business. When cows are pushed, you must limit their options and you must over-power and intimadate them with facilities they cannot possibly over come with Bovine force. Keep barbed wire out of pressure areas.

I also strongly agree with dun on them pushing through barbed wire or even woven wire. Even a 400 pound calf, if it gets a head through something can turn on that wild animal adrenalin and through they go while you are watching helplessly and hoping you don't have blood and guts to clean up. I now have solid walls in all force areas. The 8 inch 8 foot long treated posts have three stringers of 2x6s covered by cattle panels, covered by plywood. They cannot get through or see through.

 

[greybeard]

:tiphat: Hoss, I didn't realize that it was that flat in Middle Tennessee.

Normally it is not. There has always been a theory that Tennessee is bigger than Texas it just has to be ironed out. I am working on proving this theory and I have started on my own farm. I have ironed it out and expanded my 75 acre parcel into 750. I think when we are done with the state Texans will be looking at our massive spreads in awe :mrgreen: :cowboy:

Good for you--one more feather in the Tennessee hat!!
Put that one right beside the one for the inventor of the internet.

 

[Jogeephus]

I only can think of one problem. Barbwire for a working facility where you will be pushing cattle is poor idea. Nicks and gouges and the cow possibly being pushed through.

Heck with the cows, I was thinking more of what I would look like once I got pushed through six strands. :hide:

 

[Caustic Burno]

:tiphat: Hoss, I didn't realize that it was that flat in Middle Tennessee.

Normally it is not. There has always been a theory that Tennessee is bigger than Texas it just has to be ironed out. I am working on proving this theory and I have started on my own farm. I have ironed it out and expanded my 75 acre parcel into 750. I think when we are done with the state Texans will be looking at our massive spreads in awe :mrgreen: :cowboy:

You been nipping the shine again.

 

[inyati13]

Hoss, looking back, that is a big area. Not high pressure crowding in a place that big to need boards and 6 foot barriers. But, I do agree with dun on the barbed wire though.

I was referring to the area before the sweep. In the process of construction (first picture) you can see it is 8 inch diameter treated post on 8 foot centers. Between the posts are 3 stringers of 2x6s and heavy guage cattle panel. In the second picture, is after it was covered with treated plywood to keep their feet and noses from even testing the possiblity of getting through.

 

[inyati13]

I saw in the last issue of KY Cattle Asso where someone is selling old highway guard rail for building cattle facilities. Put up four stringers of that and you could hold a cape buffalo.

 

[HOSS]

I only can think of one problem. Barbwire for a working facility where you will be pushing cattle is poor idea. Nicks and gouges and the cow possibly being pushed through.

dun, this is not a working facility. I have one of those already......much like inyati's pictured above. This is a large holding pen, 2/3 acre, with water where I can hold cows that I am synching up for breeding. It is just connected to my working pens via a 25' wide 100' long alley. It makes it much more convenient for me to hold cows there instead of getting the whole herd up just to sort out the ones that I am synching up. Getting the whole herd up 3 times just to get a couple bred gets tiresome. My working pens are of the commercial variety with 6ft tall galvanized steel bars. The 6 strand barb and hot wire is there not only to keep synched cows in but to keep bulls out as well.

 

[Fly-guy]

Inyati, that is a nice looking setup. I need to have you come on over an cut some of my weeds and grass though. ;-)

 

[pricefarm]

Getting ready to build me a corral pen to work cattle, like the pics, would love some more pics of some set ups to get some ideas. ThanK