How do you load your cattle?

[Dog Bowl]

After loading lots of cows into the trailer and out of the farm down the road for grazing it's made me realise I'd like to revamp how we load cattle.

Would folk on here be keen to upload photos / explain their loading system? I like the look of American systems, up a ramp and into a trailer in single file. Appreciate it wont work on many systems as the whole back of a trailer/lorry opens up as opposed to a single door.
I have a large Rolland hydraulic lowering trailer, so can have a single or both doors open to load and wondering if making a chute would aid loading cows? Anyone do similar?

Do folk just load straight out of their handling system? Wouldn't work for me as handling system is wrong side of buildings.

I am also loading TB reactors almost every test so this loading facility will be justified if just to make that task a little easier.

Let's see what you've got? I'm looking for inspiration!

 

[Bootneck]

Yep I back up to the cattle crush which is on the end of a race and they go through that on to trailer

 

[pear]

I’ve got a Roland trailer too. I load out of the race and crush single file which works. I chain the hurdles on the trailer to the front of the crush. This method for turnout to grazing down the road.

However, I can’t get an artic to my handling system, which is how I get my cattle to market. This is the bit I need to work on! Currently have a loading pen between two buildings, then back up lorry to gate and have a bit of patience! I’m going to make a pen and race in front of it with drop in posts so I can take it down when I’m not loading cattle.

 

[ISCO]

Single file off end of race works well here.

 

[Hilly]

Proper loading bank like they have at marts.

 

[Inky]

Either through the crush if at the farm or with hurdles in the field, always with a single file chute. We have a Joskin cattle trailer and only load through one door, stops cattle bickering and attempting to come back through.

 

[sticky]

I can't get straight on to my race, so I bought half a dozen cattle hurdles and I still run what I want through but when they exit they turn right and are then facing the trailer. The best thing I did was hang some stock board on the hurdles so they can only see forward .
We load the ifor and deckers like this and have no real problems.

 

[Northeastfarmer]

I have a proper loading dock the width of the trailer
But cattle go into the trailer a lot better in single file down a narrow passage

 

[som farmer]

the yanks are so far ahead of us, in handling facilities, even small farms seem to have proper systems. Ther was apost on here, not long ago, with photos of set ups, they looked great, but get on utube, and see how the yanks do it. And their crushes look a lot better than ours !

 

[casper74]

Either out of crush (not ideal)into 12 foot trailer, for 24 ft or decker out of the holding pen after they have been through crush, stokboard gate chained to cattle trailer gates and 2 forcing gates behind them so they only have 1 way to go, and a safety barrier for me to hide behind when some of them get a little naughty

 

[Sid]

Load most beef and youngstock out of the scrape passage in the shed using the pen gates to force up.
Going from dark ish to light.

Dairy we load from yard gate.

Never had too much bother.

 

[Nithsdale]

Another one who loads out of the crush/race. Works really well

 

[Zippy768]

We used to load out of our collecting yard and use to push them round with gates. For quick release of gate we use to loop the string over the post. Done it hundreds of times and the last time we did was when an animal turned back on one of the gates just as Uncle was unlooping string. The string dam near sliced his finger of!! Doctors did manage to save it

 

[Dry Rot]

Excuse me for butting in. I know very little about cattle. But training is something I do, so I was particularly interested in the thoughts of Miriam Parker MBE who is described as a "Livestock Handling Expert". When I Googled her name this came up which might be of use to someone: (I'll bugger off now and mind my own business! ).

miriam parker cattle handling

 

[Sandpit Farm]

Bud box

Basically run the animals toward a dead end shutting a gate behind them, when they turn, open a side gate and they will go through onto a trailer or otherwise... if there’s enough space in the losing bay, you’ll get them all through so you can shut the gate behind them. If you get a d**kh**d, just start again.

(Love how d*ckhead is substituted as willy!)

 

[Dog Bowl]

Currently I load the cows in a gang way between 2 sheds. Moving a group of cows up, then bringing a gate behind them to create a box behind the trailer. They then have no option but to get onto the trailer. The problem I find is they all try and move onto the trailer at the same time, one bully cow stands in the way and you get an enormous bottleneck.

I like the idea of loading out a race as they are all single file, follow the leader type thing which I think will help keep the cows quieter too.

Looks like I may need to either move the handling system to the other side of the buildings to then utilise it for loading onto trailers, or conversely set up a second handling system for loading.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Single-file ramp, ex-Finegand freezing works.
Generally speaking, stock-truck cattle pens hold the same number of cattle as the ramp does.
They have internal ramps to load to the top deck, so this is just a 4' high block of concrete to butt-up to, usually it takes longer to back the trailer in than it does to load 80 cattle on.

 

[Hfd Cattle]

Usually load up through the race as they tend to load easier . If cattle are going out on keep then they are all wormed and tags checked through the race then onto trailer. I no longer send to fatstock Market ,Ludlow ,but send them as stores instead so they go into Hereford so they are also loaded through the race and the lot numbers put on their back before loading . Makes it easy in the market as well .

 

[deere 6600]

Usually load up through the race as they tend to load easier . If cattle are going out on keep then they are all wormed and tags checked through the race then onto trailer. I no longer send to fatstock Market ,Ludlow ,but send them as stores instead so they go into Hereford so they are also loaded through the race and the lot numbers put on their back before loading . Makes it easy in the market as well .

If a livestock haulier came on and told us what he liked the best that would be really usefull

 

[Hilly]

50 on double decker the other day in ten mins, how many you want ? 6 I sort the six whole the driver closes gate behind the first lot easy peasy, photo isn’t of double decker obviously but this is my loading bank.