Description
Located in central Mexico, this small slaughter plant is part of large feed yard and the cattle either trucked, walk to the facility. The holding pen capacity is 80 cattle, plus the alley can be staged in the alley. The raised platform and handler walkway are 42 inches down from the top of the 66 inch high solid fence. On the outside radius of the single file chute, the concrete is at ground level with the chute and a 2″ gap at the bottom of the fence is for wastewater to drain from the chute. Waste water from this area is diverted into a 12″ diameter pipe under the holding pen and out. Deep grooved concrete was used in all curved fence areas and in the holding pens. The three most important principles when designing facilities for cattle are; Solid sided fences in high use areas like the curved lane and crowd pen. Blocking vision with solid fences keeps them calm. Deep groove concrete floors also keeps cattle calm, and gives them confidence as they walk through the facility. Curved fences promote forward motion and make cattle think they’re going back where they came from. Curves also prevent abrupt corners or chutes that appear dead-ended.
