Cattle Pen Drawings and Humane Corrals

This restricted space design has extended length loading chutes adapted to this site. In the hot climate of south Texas, the covered work area is mostly for shade and has open sides for ventilation. Two large and one small sorting pen makes this an ideal facility for 150 to 200 head of cattle.

This high speed facility located on a remote ranch has capacity to hold 600 calves on shipping day, and load the calves in under 2 hours. Pens hold one, or two truckloads. A small covered work area over a hydraulic squeeze chute has room for treatment equipment and other necessities. Two main sort pens plus one pen in the center allows for all necessary sorting.

In this plan a standard Bud Box system has been modified to include a funnel into single file rather than an abrupt entrance. The Bud Box holds about five cows, and the single file chute holds 5 cows. Best practice is to only put as many cattle in the box as fits in the single file chute.

A very small system on this cow-calf operation in Canada was built inside a 40′ x 60′ insulated building and features a calf table for ear tags, branding, and castrating calves. First cows and calves are sorted and the cows are worked in the squeeze chute. Next, the calves are brought up separately. Never crowd calves and calves in confined spaces.

This popular plan includes a main cattle alley for sorting before cattle enter the curved alley leading to crowd pen. Loading chutes are connected to the crowd pen leading to the squeeze chute. Two sort pens out of the squeeze chute, or access to a calving barn make up the working area. On the top side is two pens with feed bunk and concrete apron. These pens can be used for sick pens, or calving pens.

On this successful purebred cow/calf operation, the rancher understood the importance of good sanitation during AI and embryo transfer procedures. A large calving pasture outside the system kept cows close for observation during calving season. The single pens are used for “shy” cows for calving, or those who may have problems. Sort pens are used to separate cows in different stages of gestation.

Small handling facility. One hundred cow/calf pairs are gathered, sorted, restrained in the squeeze, and loaded into a stock trailer in this economy corral. For large trucks, a portable ramp backs up to the stock trailer chute.

Small Ranch Economy Corral. Two hundred cow/calf pairs are gathered in grass traps, sorted, restrained in the squeeze, and loaded into a stock trailer or large truck in this economy corral. For large trucks, a portable ramp backs up to the stock trailer chute.

New- This popular plan has undergone several changes as ranchers added their input to the original design. Features of this plan include large holding pens, angled pens for speed at shipping time, a group scale, loading chutes for stock trailers and semi-trucks, a separate area for a calf table, and a covered work area over the squeeze chute. Cow-calf operations need the flexibility this plan provides.

New- This ranch facility in Utah has it all, small, compact, and efficient. The system is between two large pastures, and the cattle have separate entrances. A calf table is a safe alternative to roping and dragging calves for branding on small ranches where labor issues prevail. The covered area over the squeeze chute is small and easy to heat in the winter.

New- This system is on a large Montana Cattle ranch facility with an existing maternity barn. Inside the barn are a calf-pulling station and several pens out of the weather. The curved handling system includes a stock trailer and large truck-loading chutes. The loading chutes curved toward the only clear path for trucks to turn and back up.

New- A Bud Box is an effective handling system with certain limitations. A Bud Box is an economical alternative on ranches where speed is not a priority and the cattle are generally calm. Five cattle are the maximum number at one time in the box. Those five go into the single-file chute together, leaving no strays behind.

New- A large gathering pen doubles as a pre-calving observation pen. The flexibility of this system includes a compact curved handling system with a stock trailer and semi-truck loading chutes, two large sorting pens, one pen for outliers, and three sick pens/maternity pens, all connected to 12-foot wide alleys.

New- The standard size of the covered work area in this plan doubled to include space for an office. The building divides so the area over the squeeze chute can be sprayed with a hose and cleaned thoroughly. The stock trailer drive-thru is a handy addition and the envy of the neighbors.

New- Some tic species are becoming resistant to ivermectin, and more aggressive parasite treatments are needed. This basic handling system incorporates a commercial sprayer into the system, allowing them to rotate between two chemical treatments. Cattle drip dry in the drain pen before exiting the sprayer area.

New- Uganda’s complex yet functional and multi-purpose cattle facility serves several large ranches in the surrounding regions. Cattle from outside the region undergo pesticide treatment and quarantine at this facility. The system has three treatment areas: a dip vat and walk-thru sprayer, and oral treatments in the squeeze chute.