Cattle Yards
Constructing Cattle Yards for Small Landholders
Well designed yards, based on an understanding of animal behaviour, will increase productivity, improve meat quality and be more efficient with your time and money.
Beef Cattle Yards for Less Than 100 Head
Regardless of the number of cattle you run — whether it be 15 or 150 — a well-designed, functional set of yards is basic to good management. The yards should allow safe, efficient handling of cattle for drafting and loading-out as well as restraining the animals for husbandry procedures such as drenching, vaccination, ear tagging and pregnancy testing.
Cattle Handling Facility 10–50
A good set of yards positively encourages sound management and herd health programs because of the ease of handling cattle. Where facilities are difficult to work, or in a poor state of repair, or do not exist, essential management practices are often not undertaken. The end result is often a lower price in the market place.
Observations of Cattle Behavior Applied to the Design of Cattle-handling Facilities
Field observations were conducted while cattle were being handled in abattoirs, auction markets, yards on ranches, dipping vats and restraining chutes. Mature cattle and calves of many different breeds were observed under commercial conditions. A review of the literature and the observations indicated that cattle can be most efficiently handled in yards and races which have long narrow diagonal pens on a 60° angle. In yards designed by the author, cattle which are waiting to be sorted are held in a 3–3.5 m-wide curved race with an inside radius of 7.5–11 m. From the curved race, the animals can either be sorted into the diagonal pens, or they can be directed to the squeeze chute, dipping vat, or restraining chute at the abattoir. The handler works from a catwalk which is located along the inner radius of the race. This facilitates the movement of the animals because they will tend to circle around the handler in order to maintain visual contact. The curved holding race terminates in a round crowding pen which leads to a curved single file race. Cattle have 360° panoramic vision and poor depth perception. Sharp contrasts of light and dark should be avoided. Single file races, forcing pens, and other areas where cattle are crowded should have high solid fences. This prevents the animals from observing people, vehicles, and other distracting objects outside the facility.
Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0304376280900917
12 Tips for Handling Cattle Easily and Safely Infographic
1. Reduce shadows, color contrasts, and noise. Cattle want to take flight when they can’t see what’s ahead. Shadows and odd color patterns may confuse and stop them. When you set up a working chute, consider the sun angles and light sources. Reduce shadows by putting solid sides on chutes and crowd pens. Artificial light directly overhead will produce fewer shadows. Cattle also balk at noises from dangling chains or rattling head gates, Lemenager says.