Beef Cattle Facilities: Handling Systems

There are nearly as many different beef cattle production systems as there are beef cattle producers. Beef cattle production systems may be grass-based, pastured with a loafing barn, or completely confined systems. Regardless of how we manage beef cattle, every beef cattle production system will have to handle the cattle at some point. This handling may involve treating a sick individual, or it may be part of a receiving protocol to deworm, vaccinate, implant, and individually weigh incoming cattle to the farm. Handling cattle will be considerably easier if we invest time in the proper design and implementation of handling facilities in our beef cattle facilities.

Knowing what you are working with

The first step to a good cattle handling experience is appreciating the animal with which you are working. Cattle are prey species. Because of this, they have wide set eyes so that they can see nearly all of the way around themselves (figure 1; 300 degree vision). However, they cannot see items, or individuals, directly behind them. Furthermore, cattle have poor depth perception and shadows or changes in the terrain can appear very different to cattle than they do to humans. For example, cattle may perceive a shallow or shaded area as a pit that cannot be crossed. Their poor depth perception and prey instincts encourage cattle to stay in a herd and move from dark to light areas. Moving cattle in small groups and providing adequate lighting in handling facilities will keep cattle calm and make moving them easier. Keeping the visual perceptions of cattle in mind will help design better handling facilities discussed later, but also appreciate how to move cattle through those facilities.

Figure 1. Cattle cannot see directly behind themselves. Therefore, ~60 degrees directly behind the animal is referred to as the animals' "blind spot". Image adapted from the Beef Quality Assurance "National Manual."

Due to their evolution as a prey species, cattle also have what we call a "flight zone." The flight zone is an arbitrary area on an animal. If a handler is outside of the flight zone, cattle will not move, or flee, but once the handler steps into the flight zone, this puts pressure on the animal causing it to move (figure 2; note handler movement at the flank will move cattle forward). The flight zone may be small for cattle reared in close contact with humans or the flight zone could be quite large for cattle that have been reared in range systems or with little human interaction. In addition, the flight zone may differ if the handler is on foot, horseback, or four-wheeler. Spending a bit of time observing the flight zone of a new group of cattle can aid our future interactions with them.

While we can apply pressure in the cattle's flight zone to move them, the direction they move will be determined by their "point of balance" (figure 2; note the point of balance at the shoulder). The point of balance on cattle is at or near the shoulder. A handler standing in front of the point of balance, more towards the animals' head, should expect cattle to move backward while a handler standing behind the animals' point of balance, more towards the rear, should expect cattle will move forward. Thus, by altering handler location we can move cattle in the desired direction in a pen or alleyway.

By considering how a group of cattle might move and thinking a bit about the cattle's perception of an environment before we attempt to move cattle through a handling system, we can set ourselves and the individuals working with us up for greater success.

Types of Handling Systems

All handling systems rely on a few basic components: a holding or crowding area, a working alley, or squeeze chute with a head catch, and, sometimes, sort pens and a loadout area. These systems may be laid out differently depending on builder or producer preference. There are 2 major cattle handling systems that are employed: tub-style systems and bud box systems.

Tub Style Systems

A tub-style handling system relies on cattle’s natural instincts as herding animals to circle back to the herd for safety. The premise is that cattle will follow a natural curved route if given a choice. By employing a curve in the handling system, cattle follow their instincts to circle back and follow the curve in the handling system to move them forward towards the chute. Due to the curved nature of these systems, most are purchased premanufactured and come in a wide variety of arrangements.

Tub style systems have a large circular gathering area, or crowding pen, behind the alley, referred to as "the tub." This tub allows the handle to gather cattle in an area that will allow them to circle until they find the alleyway. The working alley in a tub system is often, although not always, also curved to allow cattle to follow that instinct to circle or follow the curve. Cattle follow this natural curve up to the squeeze chute where the handler can then restrain individuals to conduct whatever process is needed.

The idea of using cattle's natural desire to circle in a tub system is limited interaction with the handler. In reality, most tub style systems still require handlers to encourage naïve cattle through the system using the flight zone. To do this, handlers must work up behind the point of balance on cattle, requiring a handler at the front of the working alley to step out from the alley and triangulate back to the next animal such that they arrive behind the point of balance. Whereas walking straight back along the alley often puts pressure on the animals point of balance from the head region, causing the animal in the alley to back up. Handlers encourage the preferred forward motion through the working alley by creating a triangular path out from the chute and arriving behind the point of balance.

Bud Box Style Systems

A bud box style system operates using cattle’s instinct to circle as well, but in a more simplistic design that is more likely to be home manufactured than the tub. A bud box system simply has a rectangular gathering, or crowding, pen to bring cattle in to, also known as "the box". The size of the box should be appropriately scaled for the number of cattle, but most are 14 feet by 20 feet (figure 3), the handler will move into the working alley.

In many small to mid-size farm cases, handlers will bring 3 to 5 head of cattle into a bud box at a time, to fill the working alley. The position of the handlers' body in the bud box will determine the flow of cattle into the working alley from the box. Thus, bud box systems rely more on the handler's relationship with, and ability to read, the cattle while the tub-style systems rely more on the cattle's instincts to avoid humans. Perhaps for this reason, the bud box system has gained a great deal of popularity on small farms with more intimate cattle-handler relationships.

Other Systems

While tubs and bud boxes work quite well, cattle producers have used less elaborate handling systems for years. These systems may rely on a wall of a building (figure 4) or an existing structure to make up one side of the system. The downfall to these systems using an existing wall is that, invariably, whichever side of the animal is blocked by the wall will be the side handlers/vets need to treat or access. Thus, if a solid wall is being used to facilitate handling systems, designers are encouraged to consider angling the chute from the solid wall.

In any of these systems, if multiple handlers are available, one handler can fill the alley from the tub or box while the other processes the cattle through the squeeze chute to allow for the continuous and efficient flow of cattle through the system.

Material

Different views exist on the correct materials for building handling systems for cattle. Historically, the viewpoint tended towards solid-sided systems. In these solid-sided systems, the idea was to reduce cattle's visual distractions and, thus, reduce fear, keeping animals calm. However, this solid-sided system also reduced the ability of the handler to use the cattle's flight zone and point of balance to move them through the system.

Open-sided systems can reduce input costs of handling systems and range from guardrails and wooden posts to prefabricated steel gates or panels. These systems, regardless of the materials used, allow the handler to move the animal using their flight zone and point of balance because cattle can see handlers through the open-sided systems. The onus in these systems is on the handlers to remove any hanging jackets, errant dogs, or children, etc. that could be distracting to the cattle prior to handling.

How Big Should Handling Systems Be

The size of the handling system should be determined by 2 things. First, and most importantly, the size of the cattle that you will be working through the system. Secondly, the number of cattle you will be working through the system.

While Table 1 displays an area for a crowding pen, keep in mind that the denominator, the number of cattle in that pen, should not be infinite. For a single handler, small groups of 3 to 6 head of cattle will be easiest to work through most systems. Take a long look at the size of the operation and determine the amount of labor or help available to the operation before over-designing a handling system.

Critical Functionality

While systems and designs may vary, there are 2 components of the beef cattle handling system that should be considered critical: the head catch and the scale.

Head Catch

Regardless of whether you are treating a sick animal, checking pregnancy, or putting an implant in to increase growth, a head catch is essential to properly restrain cattle. A good head catch can be quite literally lifesaving, but at the very least will reduce stress for both the handler and the animal. Restraining cattle in a head catch increases safety for the handler and the animal by effectively immobilizing cattle.

Head catches come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They can be straight or curved, operated by hydraulics or manually. The best practice is to test a few at farm or trade shows before settling on a unit for the home operation.

While neck restraint exists in the form of dairy-style headlocks, these should not be used in beef cattle operations. Headlocks do not adequately immobilize beef cattle to ensure the safe handling of the handler and the animal. Most beef cattle are handled infrequently. A system that restrains the head and provides support to the animals' body will keep them from collapsing or slipping in the chute and prevent them from swinging their head into contact with the handler.

Scale

The scales within a handling system are present to monitor cattle body weights. On any agriculture operation, numbers matter. You cannot manage what you do not measure. Management involves the treatment of sick animals. Knowing the body weight of those sick animals is necessary in many cases to dose medications appropriately.

Feeder calves and fed cattle are sold based on body weight. Without an appropriate tool to track body weight in the operation, cattle producers cannot manage or select for the “good cattle”. Analyzing calf weight to calculate cow efficiency is the primary way successful cow-calf operations make progress. Tracking average daily gain of fed cattle allows for the management of feed efficiency by monitoring feed to gain. Both of these metrics, cow efficiency and feed to gain, are the primary driver of economic success in cattle operations. To be good managers, cattle producers must measure body weight.

Image of scales being read by the farm management. Photo credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beef Producers Working Group.

Summary

Many handling systems exist, giving cattle producers options that fit their budget and their management style. Regardless of the system chosen for the farm, be sure to have a proper head catch and scale in that system to improve cattle management. Cattle handling systems do not have to be the biggest or most elaborate; they simply need to be effective for that operation.