This cattle crush and adjoining yard on the farm of Gearoid Booth, The Heath, Co Laois, can comfortably hold about 40 cattle. The unit was featured previously in our Farm Buildings magazine. The unit is constructed with ease of use, value for money and safety in mind.
Gates break up the yard into three individual holding pens, which gives great freedom when testing or handling cattle in different groups. The main design features of the unit and similar units are detailed below.
A drawing showing the layout and measurements of the unit.
The extendable gates can be set up to have a minimum span of 3m and be expanded to a maximum of 4m, as well as being heavy duty for dealing for larger cattle.
Slip-through escapes are located in a number of places around the yard, allowing greater and safer access in and out of pens without having to open or close gates.
Extendable gates were hung as part of the perimeter fencing of some pens. Having multiple access points on the outside of the yard means cattle in each pen can be moved out easily without upsetting cattle being held in other pens.
Circular forcing pens ensure cattle can be safely moved to the mouth of the race.
The forcing gate behind the crush is probably the best aspect of the facility. It makes the job of getting cattle into the crush very easy and safe.
A latch at the top of the forcing gate allows it to be held in a number of positions as it is swung around, constantly moving the cattle forward towards the crush. It means the person pushing the forcing gate forward is never in the line of fire when cattle kick-back at the gate.
A guillotine gate is fitted to the back of the race.
Another well thought-out safety measure at the entrance of the crush is the sliding gate. The sliding mechanism reduces all risk of cattle kicking back at you as it can easily be opened and closed from the far side of the crush rather than directly from behind, as is usually the case.
The crush can hold seven cattle (450kg to 500kg) at a time.
There is a semi semi-automatic headgate at the front of the crush which costs in the region of €280 excl. VAT.
There is also an elevated concrete platform on the outside of the crush to make handling cattle in the crush easier. This platform is outside the holding pens, which means anyone using the crush can carry out their work in safety.
Grants
Grant aid is available under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS II) for such handling units and there is strong interest in units for out farms. A project like this would cost around €7,000, excluding vat, which covers all concrete (about 13m3), machinery work and steel.
Tried and tested
The unit has been in place for a couple of years and we asked Gearoid if he would change any design details if starting the job again. He says that the unit can hold 40 medium sized cattle but when filled to capacity it can leave room a bit tight in the pens. He said that if he was designing it again he would possibly make it a bit wider and he feels this would be of particular benefit when getting animals behind the forcing gate.
There is more scope to handle animals easier where numbers are in the region of 30 to 35 head. Another consideration raised is that where dealing with suckler or beef animals which may tend to be wilder he would hang the gates a few inches higher as a better deterrent to animals in trying to jump gates. This is not an issue when handling animals but he says it could be when loading and transporting animals from the pen.
A concrete base over all the pen would work best if the unit was located in an area where cattle would be passing in and out frequently. In this case it works ok as the unit is located on an outfarm and used sporadically.
This cattle crush and adjoining yard on the farm of Gearoid Booth, The Heath, Co Laois, can comfortably hold about 40 cattle. The unit was featured previously in our Farm Buildings magazine. The unit is constructed with ease of use, value for money and safety in mind.
Gates break up the yard into three individual holding pens, which gives great freedom when testing or handling cattle in different groups. The main design features of the unit and similar units are detailed below.
A drawing showing the layout and measurements of the unit.
The extendable gates can be set up to have a minimum span of 3m and be expanded to a maximum of 4m, as well as being heavy duty for dealing for larger cattle.
Slip-through escapes are located in a number of places around the yard, allowing greater and safer access in and out of pens without having to open or close gates.
Extendable gates were hung as part of the perimeter fencing of some pens. Having multiple access points on the outside of the yard means cattle in each pen can be moved out easily without upsetting cattle being held in other pens.
Circular forcing pens ensure cattle can be safely moved to the mouth of the race.
The forcing gate behind the crush is probably the best aspect of the facility. It makes the job of getting cattle into the crush very easy and safe.
A latch at the top of the forcing gate allows it to be held in a number of positions as it is swung around, constantly moving the cattle forward towards the crush. It means the person pushing the forcing gate forward is never in the line of fire when cattle kick-back at the gate.
A guillotine gate is fitted to the back of the race.
Another well thought-out safety measure at the entrance of the crush is the sliding gate. The sliding mechanism reduces all risk of cattle kicking back at you as it can easily be opened and closed from the far side of the crush rather than directly from behind, as is usually the case.
The crush can hold seven cattle (450kg to 500kg) at a time.
There is a semi semi-automatic headgate at the front of the crush which costs in the region of €280 excl. VAT.
There is also an elevated concrete platform on the outside of the crush to make handling cattle in the crush easier. This platform is outside the holding pens, which means anyone using the crush can carry out their work in safety.
Grants
Grant aid is available under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS II) for such handling units and there is strong interest in units for out farms. A project like this would cost around €7,000, excluding vat, which covers all concrete (about 13m3), machinery work and steel.
Tried and tested
The unit has been in place for a couple of years and we asked Gearoid if he would change any design details if starting the job again. He says that the unit can hold 40 medium sized cattle but when filled to capacity it can leave room a bit tight in the pens. He said that if he was designing it again he would possibly make it a bit wider and he feels this would be of particular benefit when getting animals behind the forcing gate.
There is more scope to handle animals easier where numbers are in the region of 30 to 35 head. Another consideration raised is that where dealing with suckler or beef animals which may tend to be wilder he would hang the gates a few inches higher as a better deterrent to animals in trying to jump gates. This is not an issue when handling animals but he says it could be when loading and transporting animals from the pen.
A concrete base over all the pen would work best if the unit was located in an area where cattle would be passing in and out frequently. In this case it works ok as the unit is located on an outfarm and used sporadically.
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