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I hate chasing cattle (pic)
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<blockquote data-quote="SRBeef" data-source="post: 685561" data-attributes="member: 7509"><p>Well, the originsal reason for using used highway guardrail on the north side of the corral was for structural reasons - there is about a 30 ft free span of guard rail over the fenceline bunk opening. Bolted together guard rail is very strong then I joined the two levels of it and it seems to be working.</p><p></p><p>The corral really didn't cost very much to build if you don't count my labor. There was a "100 year flood" in SW Wiscoinsin in August of 2007 which downed many power and telephone lines. I built this corral in November 2007. The corral posts are all used utility poles which were free for the asking from local power and phone companies. I took a chain saw and the trailer. The key corners and gate posts are the butt ends of the poles, the pole tops are used for intermediate posts. I rented an auger and there was a sack of dry sackcrete thrown in the bottom of each hole. </p><p></p><p>The west and south sides are 2" x 10" x 10-20 ft long rough sawn oak boards which had been sitting in a pile for a couple years after a construction project and I bought the whole lot for $200. off of my local internet providers bulletin board. A lot of work to go get it but really not much $$ for what I got. And it is strong. The telephone posts are only 6 ft 3" apart (std hole spacing for guard rails). One of my bigger expenses was the breaker rock and gravel to level the inside since about everything in my area of WI is on a slope.</p><p></p><p>There are pipe gates and posts only on the east end. I'll post a sketch of the arrangement in the next week or so. This is a busy couple weeks for me on the road. </p><p></p><p>There were a couple things I've learned from this project so far that may be of use to other beginners: use solid sheeted panels everywhere. Dr Temple Grandin is correct in controlling sight lines is a big part of keeping cattle calm. I have ended up painting 1/4" plywood sheets and wiring them to the inside of most of the pipe gates on the corral exterior. Even behind the feed bunks there are cattle panels with plywood liners.</p><p></p><p>A major issue was switching from the pipe grates provided by the manufacturer to a solid sheeted sliding doors on both ends of the alley. There is nothing quite so upstting to a cow in the alley as watching her buddy up ahead get preg checked by the vet!! </p><p></p><p>Some times we and cattle are better off not knowing whats coming up. Sort of like getting shots in the military - you walk thru a door and they hit you with the needle guns in both biceps before you know what happened.... They stay calmer in the alley if they can't see ahead. Calves don't turn around and try to slip under a solid door like they do with a grate also. You can see the horizontal sliding doors (closed) in the photo above.</p><p></p><p>The Formost tub, alley, chute and auto headgate work very well and were the major purchased expense. You really don't need to purchase a chute and headgate since most vets will bring theirs for a couple bucks. Just design the layout so the vet can back his trailer up to your alley.</p><p></p><p>The scale was a demo unit purchased from a dealer at a farm show. They hate to take stuff back after a show. You don't need a fancy computer type readout. I have the lowest cost Trutest unit made and jot down the weights in a notebook in my shirt pocket. The Trutest scale has an aluminum walk on it and sits in the sheeted alley in the left in the original picture above and works very well.</p><p></p><p>I am just a beginner in cattle but one thing I see is that, like most other businesses that are worth being in, there is some initial investment required if you are going to be in the business.</p><p></p><p>One of my first cows I purchased was really wild. It didn't take long to see she was not an animal I wanted around and she made the whole herd skittish. A good neighbor and I tried to load her in a trailer with some cattle panels wired together.... to make as long story short we tried for hours unsuccessfully to get her into the trailer and she almost broke my arm pushing a panel over on me.</p><p></p><p>At that point I designed this corral...in honor of #59, RIP. I REALLY enjoyed those hamburgers!</p><p></p><p>I'll try top make a sketch in the near future. Jim</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="SRBeef, post: 685561, member: 7509"] Well, the originsal reason for using used highway guardrail on the north side of the corral was for structural reasons - there is about a 30 ft free span of guard rail over the fenceline bunk opening. Bolted together guard rail is very strong then I joined the two levels of it and it seems to be working. The corral really didn't cost very much to build if you don't count my labor. There was a "100 year flood" in SW Wiscoinsin in August of 2007 which downed many power and telephone lines. I built this corral in November 2007. The corral posts are all used utility poles which were free for the asking from local power and phone companies. I took a chain saw and the trailer. The key corners and gate posts are the butt ends of the poles, the pole tops are used for intermediate posts. I rented an auger and there was a sack of dry sackcrete thrown in the bottom of each hole. The west and south sides are 2" x 10" x 10-20 ft long rough sawn oak boards which had been sitting in a pile for a couple years after a construction project and I bought the whole lot for $200. off of my local internet providers bulletin board. A lot of work to go get it but really not much $$ for what I got. And it is strong. The telephone posts are only 6 ft 3" apart (std hole spacing for guard rails). One of my bigger expenses was the breaker rock and gravel to level the inside since about everything in my area of WI is on a slope. There are pipe gates and posts only on the east end. I'll post a sketch of the arrangement in the next week or so. This is a busy couple weeks for me on the road. There were a couple things I've learned from this project so far that may be of use to other beginners: use solid sheeted panels everywhere. Dr Temple Grandin is correct in controlling sight lines is a big part of keeping cattle calm. I have ended up painting 1/4" plywood sheets and wiring them to the inside of most of the pipe gates on the corral exterior. Even behind the feed bunks there are cattle panels with plywood liners. A major issue was switching from the pipe grates provided by the manufacturer to a solid sheeted sliding doors on both ends of the alley. There is nothing quite so upstting to a cow in the alley as watching her buddy up ahead get preg checked by the vet!! Some times we and cattle are better off not knowing whats coming up. Sort of like getting shots in the military - you walk thru a door and they hit you with the needle guns in both biceps before you know what happened.... They stay calmer in the alley if they can't see ahead. Calves don't turn around and try to slip under a solid door like they do with a grate also. You can see the horizontal sliding doors (closed) in the photo above. The Formost tub, alley, chute and auto headgate work very well and were the major purchased expense. You really don't need to purchase a chute and headgate since most vets will bring theirs for a couple bucks. Just design the layout so the vet can back his trailer up to your alley. The scale was a demo unit purchased from a dealer at a farm show. They hate to take stuff back after a show. You don't need a fancy computer type readout. I have the lowest cost Trutest unit made and jot down the weights in a notebook in my shirt pocket. The Trutest scale has an aluminum walk on it and sits in the sheeted alley in the left in the original picture above and works very well. I am just a beginner in cattle but one thing I see is that, like most other businesses that are worth being in, there is some initial investment required if you are going to be in the business. One of my first cows I purchased was really wild. It didn't take long to see she was not an animal I wanted around and she made the whole herd skittish. A good neighbor and I tried to load her in a trailer with some cattle panels wired together.... to make as long story short we tried for hours unsuccessfully to get her into the trailer and she almost broke my arm pushing a panel over on me. At that point I designed this corral...in honor of #59, RIP. I REALLY enjoyed those hamburgers! I'll try top make a sketch in the near future. Jim [/QUOTE]
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