Description
Google earth images of this system are shown on this website in the feed yard section of photos. The system was originally designed for condition scoring in a row of measurement areas in the single file chute. An incline scale weighed each animal. In the next box cattle were ultra-sounded, followed by frame scoring software built into the next section. A computer analysis was conducted in the squeeze chute at the end and the animal was assigned a sorting pen with like conditioned animals. The sorting gates were controlled by hydraulics and the control for the gates was mounted on the squeeze chute. At the start, the four sort gates are closed, and the center sort pen is open as a default pen. If an animal runs and gets through the squeeze chute, the default pen is open to catch the animal and rerun it through the chute again. The default pen can also be used for sorting cull animals, or sick, or injured cattle so they do not have to be resorted from one of the main sort pens. Effectively there is four sort pens and one default pen with the option of adding two sort pens. The shipping/receiving chutes and holding pens are divided with an alley and a 75 foot livestock/commodities scale offset to the side of the alley. Shipping pens hold one truckload of fat cattle. The posts in the curved fence on 4 foot centers. The grooved concrete floors must be deep for cattle. The book has good tips for concrete, and illustrations for the grooving tools. This facility was designed with solid sided fences beginning in the curved alleys, crowd pens, and single file chutes.
