one man corral
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Taurus
Well-known member
Why can't you find someone to help you out?
greybeard
Well-known member
100 head--by yourself? ouch!
Suggestion----------start early.
Suggestion----------start early.
My dad sometimes helps and my wife does too, but there are those times.My cows are pretty gentle, so that helps. There is a lot of walking, but I'm afraid this is just how it's going to be. When I do get some help, it will just be that much better. There has to be one man type systems.
Caustic Burno
Well-known member
stockbub":34xe9ufh said:
I built one based off this design for 35 head, works well in a one man operation.
I modified the chute a little.
http://www.cps.gov.on.ca/english/plans/ ... /1831L.pdf
Black and Good
Well-known member
I like to have two or three different sections for sorting. And lots of gates. I also try and make sure I have a recapture pen around my squeeze chute. BTW. If your by yourself spend the money on a decent squeeze chute you will be glad you did. I always work my cattle by myself but not 100. Take your time and don't rush them or yourself. Let them make up their own mind, if that makes sense. Good luck. B&G
Taurus
Well-known member
In short words, lot of panels! Hopefully you don't get one that is being stubborn or being standish off and look out for the kickers.
I work cattle by myself fairly often. There is not a lot of difference between pens that work 30 head or 100 head.... little bit bigger holding area. You just do more sets of 5 or what ever. I've been in great big pens designed to move lots of cattle at a time but they require a lot of people to operate them.
dieselbeef
Well-known member
if you use the really heavy panels like i do you can continually crowd them towards the chute as the herd gets smaller that your werking. we do about 20 at a time and as they go thru and get worked we shrink up the holding pen from the outside and they keep funneling to the exit. keeps you on the outside from the cows too
I have a Priefert squeeze shoot. Last two crazy cows to be sold tomorrow. It was trying to get me and Iwas standing on her head. Once in the shoot,i loaded her on the trailer. I usually work cows 3 to 7 at a time. I get them all in my driveway blocked by gates and work them 20 at a timeto holding pen.,then run the 3 to 7 through to squeeze shoot. I usually have to work them down the alley. Not too bad, just lots of trips to sort. I also want a system for after working. Separate bulls, wean calves, anything that needs to be sold. And lots of gates.
cow pollinater
Well-known member
The corrals that I built on my "home" place are two big rectangular pens with a twelve foot gate in between them in one corner and two fourteen foot gates on the outsides so that the cattle can travel through on the way to water and get used to seeing them as a path to freedom. On the other side each pen has a ten foot gate that opens into a ten foot wide alley that runs along the backside of both pens. The pens are rectangular because it makes it easier to crowd cows up into a gate when I'm by myself. They hold as many cows as a square pen of the same area but it's less space for me to hold when I bunch them.
My alley is open on the downhill end so I can load out. The alley has a gate at the halfway mark so that I can sort into one end of the alley and then let cows out into the pen a few at a time instead of sorting into an open corral and spending all day chasing one that got by. On the top end there is a crowd gate that can either close one end of the alley square for me to sort against or can be used to crowd cattle into the lead-up. I have a guilotine gate at the end of my lead-up with the rope set to where I can operate it horseback from where I latch my crowd gate. From that point I can step from horseback over the fence and onto the catwalk easily as the lead-up and catwalk are inside of the top pen.
My chute has a self catch setting but I like to close it down and just use the back end to lock them in and then catch the head on anything that needs to be in the chute(I mostly just do the work in the lead-up) so I set up a rope and pulley so that I can close the back end of the chute from anywhere on the catwalk.
I almost always have at least one dog with me and I'm always happy to have extra help but I've run close to a hundred head through my corrals by myself and it works just fine even on the rank ones. I have found that taking an extra horse is a big help so that you have one in the pens and one in the alley handy so you can jump on and go without going through all the gates.
My alley is open on the downhill end so I can load out. The alley has a gate at the halfway mark so that I can sort into one end of the alley and then let cows out into the pen a few at a time instead of sorting into an open corral and spending all day chasing one that got by. On the top end there is a crowd gate that can either close one end of the alley square for me to sort against or can be used to crowd cattle into the lead-up. I have a guilotine gate at the end of my lead-up with the rope set to where I can operate it horseback from where I latch my crowd gate. From that point I can step from horseback over the fence and onto the catwalk easily as the lead-up and catwalk are inside of the top pen.
My chute has a self catch setting but I like to close it down and just use the back end to lock them in and then catch the head on anything that needs to be in the chute(I mostly just do the work in the lead-up) so I set up a rope and pulley so that I can close the back end of the chute from anywhere on the catwalk.
I almost always have at least one dog with me and I'm always happy to have extra help but I've run close to a hundred head through my corrals by myself and it works just fine even on the rank ones. I have found that taking an extra horse is a big help so that you have one in the pens and one in the alley handy so you can jump on and go without going through all the gates.
