Suggestions on show equipment

[Angus Cattle Girl]

Has anybody on here ever tried the chute mat form Sullivan's? It's called Sullivan's Padded Chute Floor. I want to know how it works for the cattle. In the description, it says it reduces fatigue. Last year at my county show, we would put the steers in the chute and get them ready in an hour. We had 4 steers and only 2 chutes so we would have to take them out of the chute and tie them up elsewhere :shock: . The steers would always try to lay down because they were so tired of standing up . My question is how does this chute floor work for the steers? And also, what can I do to get my cattle used to standing for long periods of time? :help: Thanks

 

[jaydill]

Chute floor works nice but it ain't gonna make much of a difference if you aren't keeping your steers tied up for a few hours each day. You should keep em tied up for a few hours so they get used to that, as well as practice walking them and having them stand for a while. You'll get to some majors and you could be showing for a half an hour to an hour.

 

[klintdog]

I bought one for my chute down in Denver this year. If you do get one of the Sullivan padded floors, I'd recommend reinforcing it with a decent piece of plywood. They just put the padding over a piece of particle board. I see some problems in the picture with urine and stuff soaking into the board.

Just my $.02