Cattle movements in a race query..

[steveR]

I know I have seen it discussed here somewhere, but....

I have had a Rancher cattle handling system here for 20 years. Still solid and in great condition, a shame they went under.

I am going to carry out a rejig this year and reposition the system and improve the forcing area into the 5-6 cattle holding race. I will also reline the race to improve the flow, as the nettting I have on is starting to get frayed and knackered, so probably use stockboard or similiar.

To create a decent system, I want to redo the forcing area using a hinged gate setup. What I cannot remember is whether the cattle like to go clockwise or anti-clockwise into the race???

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

I know I have seen it discussed here somewhere, but....

I have had a Rancher cattle handling system here for 20 years. Still solid and in great condition, a shame they went under.

I am going to carry out a rejig this year and reposition the system and improve the forcing area into the 5-6 cattle holding race. I will also reline the race to improve the flow, as the nettting I have on is starting to get frayed and knackered, so probably use stockboard or similiar.

To create a decent system, I want to redo the forcing area using a hinged gate setup. What I cannot remember is whether the cattle like to go clockwise or anti-clockwise into the race???

Taken from www.grandin.com - Temple Grandin - the acknowledged animal behaviour expert:

Curved Chutes and Solid Fences
Curved single file chutes are especially recommended for moving cattle onto a truck or squeeze chute (22, 79). A curved chute is more efficient for two reasons. First, it prevents the animal from seeing what is at the other end of the chute until it is almost there. Second, it takes advantage of the natural tendency to circle around a handler moving along the inner radius. A curved chute provides the greatest benefit when animals have to wait in line for vaccinations or other procedures. A curved chute with an inside radius 3.5m (12 ft) to 5m (16 ft) will work well for handling cattle (22). The curve must be laid out as shown. If the chute is bent too sharply at the junction between the single file chute and the crowd pen, it will appear as a dead end. This will cause livestock to balk (31). If space is restricted, short 1.5m (5 ft) bends can be used (28). If bends with a radius smaller than 3.5m (12 ft) are used, there must be a 3m (10 ft) section of straight single file at the junction between the crowd pen and chute to prevent the chute from appearing to be a dead end. Handler walkways should run alongside the chute and crowd pen (31). The use of overhead walkways should be avoided. Livestock will often balk when they have to move from an outdoor pen into a building which contains the squeeze chute. Animals will enter a building more easily if they are lined up in a single file chute before they enter the building (22). Conversely, pigs reared indoors are often reluctant to move out into bright daylight. A pig loading ramp should be designed so that the pigs are lined up in single file, where they cannot turn around before they leave the building.
For all species, solid sides are recommended on both the chute and the crowd pen which leads to a squeeze chute or leading ramp (7, 22, 24, 79). For operator safety, man-gates must be constructed so that people can escape charging cattle. The crowd gate should also be solid to prevent animals from turning back (31). Wild animals tend to be calmer in facilities with solid sides. In holding pens, solid pen gates along the main drive alley facilitate animal movement.


She doesn't say here whether clockwise or anti but the photos all show anti-clockwise.

 

[milkloss]

They prefer moving left..,, as in anti-clockwise.

 

[steveR]

Taken from www.grandin.com - Temple Grandin - the acknowledged animal behaviour expert:

Curved Chutes and Solid Fences
Curved single file chutes are especially recommended for moving cattle onto a truck or squeeze chute (22, 79). A curved chute is more efficient for two reasons. First, it prevents the animal from seeing what is at the other end of the chute until it is almost there. Second, it takes advantage of the natural tendency to circle around a handler moving along the inner radius. A curved chute provides the greatest benefit when animals have to wait in line for vaccinations or other procedures. A curved chute with an inside radius 3.5m (12 ft) to 5m (16 ft) will work well for handling cattle (22). The curve must be laid out as shown. If the chute is bent too sharply at the junction between the single file chute and the crowd pen, it will appear as a dead end. This will cause livestock to balk (31). If space is restricted, short 1.5m (5 ft) bends can be used (28). If bends with a radius smaller than 3.5m (12 ft) are used, there must be a 3m (10 ft) section of straight single file at the junction between the crowd pen and chute to prevent the chute from appearing to be a dead end. Handler walkways should run alongside the chute and crowd pen (31). The use of overhead walkways should be avoided. Livestock will often balk when they have to move from an outdoor pen into a building which contains the squeeze chute. Animals will enter a building more easily if they are lined up in a single file chute before they enter the building (22). Conversely, pigs reared indoors are often reluctant to move out into bright daylight. A pig loading ramp should be designed so that the pigs are lined up in single file, where they cannot turn around before they leave the building.
For all species, solid sides are recommended on both the chute and the crowd pen which leads to a squeeze chute or leading ramp (7, 22, 24, 79). For operator safety, man-gates must be constructed so that people can escape charging cattle. The crowd gate should also be solid to prevent animals from turning back (31). Wild animals tend to be calmer in facilities with solid sides. In holding pens, solid pen gates along the main drive alley facilitate animal movement.


She doesn't say here whether clockwise or anti but the photos all show anti-clockwise.

Perfect, thank you. I will study this closely

 

[steveR]

They prefer moving left..,, as in anti-clockwise.

I had a feeling that this was the case....

Just hoped it was clockwise!

 

[milkloss]

I had a feeling that this was the case....

yeah,I remember because all of our gear is set up the wrong way! I think they get used to it though.

 

[steveR]

yeah,I remember because all of our gear is set up the wrong way! I think they get used to it though.

All I can say is the old Ladies have become more balky as they get older....

Much like Herself!!

 

[Whitepeak]

I think if the cows think they are going out the way they came in also helps a lot. In our setup the entrance is right next to the crush, and quite often the animal is in the crush before you've got the forcing gate shut. It does also flow anti clockwise which might also help.

 

[Bill dog]

Orangeworks have taken over the rancher site, and do pretty much the same stuff if you were needing to renew any parts like for like !

 

[Gulli]

They turn left better apparently, I've never noticed any difference with a good set up though

 

[Danllan]

They turn left better apparently, I've never noticed any difference with a good set up though

Me too. Had an uncle who experimented a lot with sheep and cattle races - in fact he was obsessed by it - and he found no difference at all for a given set-up if it was mirrored. Clockwise / anticlockwise, left / right had no effect, it was all down to the layout.

One thing he did do with sheep, but not cattle as far as I recall, was to have a 'hillock' - meaning a ramp up and down just so high that a sheep couldn't see over it. This wasn't in the race but for getting a lot of sheep from the pens into the race. It must have been in the 80s and I've not seen it anywhere else since, so I guess it didn't work that well...

 

[Cowcalf]

think it depends what they have done to them previously whilst in the crush that causes more reluctance to go down the race

 

[steveR]

think it depends what they have done to them previously whilst in the crush that causes more reluctance to go down the race

Never a truer word....

The very extensive Dexter suckler herd we used to run was a case in point. The cows would go down the race once a year and a nasty Man with a needle was waiting to jab them in the neck! The youngstock went down the race twice in their lives if I got it right... Once for dehorn and castrate, once for TB test and autumn wormer.

They seemed to remember between visits...