Description
This compact facility in the mountains of New Mexico had the benefit of being surrounded by large pine trees providing shade in the summer, and protection from the wind in winter. There was no room for a large truck to back into the site, so all shipping and receiving was done with a stock trailer. The covered work area had a heated break room for the cowboys, and a small lab area, sink, refrigerator, and storage. The walls are covered with glass board, a completely washable material used in restaurant kitchens. An easy to clean facility is important, especially when the dealing with AI and other breeding procedures. The rancher understood the importance of good sanitation during AI and embryo transfer procedures, and the work are around the squeeze chute is similar to a veterinary clinic. 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. When designing this facility, three important principles were used; solid sided fences in high use areas like the curved lane and crowd pen. Blocking vision with solid fences keeps the cattle calm. Deep groove concrete floors also keep cattle calm, and give them confidence to walk through the facility. The last is curved fences. Curved fences promote forward motion and prevents abrupt corners or chutes that appear dead-ended. Curved fences also take advantage of cattle’s natural tendency to circle. The pens, alleys, gates, and the curved fence area was built using surplus oil filed pipe. The gate posts and strike posts are 4-1/2″ OD pipe, the fence posts 2-7/8″ OD pipe, and the top rail, fence rails, and all the gates were made with 2-3/8″ OD pipe.
