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Livestock Traps Catch Cattle And Horses
Allan Brown of Marwayne, Alberta sometimes needs to catch cattle or horses on large tracts of bushy pasture in the winter.
  "In these cases, the livestock are generally fairly wily and tough to catch with saddle horses, especially when there is very little or no snow," he says. "We've built traps which do a real good job of bringing them in safe and in good shape."
  Brown builds the traps with light square tubing in 12-ft. sections. He incorporates 11 panels in a keyhole configuration, with a trip-operated 10-ft. gate that swings down from above. For horses, the panels are built high so there's no chance of them trying to jump out.
  The animals enter the traps when the "greed for feed gets the best of them," and the trip-operated gate keeps them from leaving again.
  "We bait them with bales, oats and salt, and then wait for them to find out how it all works. We check our traps daily," he explains. "We have learned from trial and error as to where to set them, what configurations work the best, and how to bait them properly so they work to the best of our advantage. We've found that, as the horses and cattle get used to being trapped, they handle easier every timeà. no stress, no fuss, no muss."
  Horse traps are built different from cattle traps, as horses do not have the tendency to stick their head through the bars and push, as cattle do. Therefore, cattle traps need to have the bars spaced no more than 9 in. apart.
  Brown says using square tubing to build traps gets expensive, but it keeps them strong and light so they're easily portable.
  "Along with having three traps of our own, which we also use as round pens in the off season, we're now selling them. People find that trapping the tough ones is easier on cattle, horses and men than trying to catch the bad ones in the traditional manner," he adds.
  The price for Brown's traps varies, based on the price of steel at the time. Inquiries are welcome.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, A & C Ranch Services, Allan and Chris Brown, Box 385, Marwayne, Alberta, Canada T0B 2X0 (ph 780 847-2670; fax 780 847-2688; (rubber2@telus.net).


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2006 - Volume #30, Issue #4