Description
This facility was designed for a rancher in southern Colorado. The objective was to tie the handling facility into an existing calving barn, used during extremely cold weather with a calf pulling station inside, and a clean veterinary room for medicines and records. The site was long and narrow so the loading chutes were turned for a large truck to back into. The platform scale is offset from the alley. Offsetting scales in this way prevents animals from crossing the scale when weighing is not needed. Deep grooved concrete starts at the beginning of the curved lane and extends through the calving barn. This facility can be modified and adapted to a long narrow site. Important considerations when designing facilities for cattle are; Solid sided fences in high use areas like the curved lane and crowd pen. Cattle fear only what they can see. Blocking vision with solid fences keeps cattle calm. Deep groove concrete floors also keep cattle calm, and give them confidence to walk through the facility. The last principle is curved fences. Curves make cattle think they’re going back where they came from, and takes advantage of their natural tendency to circle.
