Pivoting "Chute Trays"

Pivoting "Chute Trays" SPECIALTY/SERVICES Specialty/Services 30-6-11 Kees and Tineke Kokke of Clyde, Alberta, shared some tricks of their trade with FARM SHOW recently. The couple operate a unique family business providing an "on site" custom cattle processing service. The Kokkes designed a handy gadget on a pivoting arm that helps save a lot of time and labor at the cattle squeeze. It's a 14-in dia. round steel equipment tray that they use to hold syringes, eartags, eartagging guns, etc. They have six of the adjustable trays in all - one on each of their squeeze's four corners, and two on gates near the headgate. All are within an arm's reach at all times. The circular shelves have a raised edge to keep things from falling off, and a rubber mat for added traction. Tineke stands on one side of the squeeze, administering vaccine, while Kees stays on the other side of the chute, carrying out the branding and parasite treatment. The third person stands at the headgate doing implanting and eartagging and a fourth crew member "pushes" animals up the alley. To cut down on environmental noise and stress to both human and animal, the Kokkes added a layer of rubber in the headgate of the squeeze. This cushions the animal when it hits the front of the squeeze, and eliminates the usual loud clanging. Hockey pucks between the chute's other moving parts fulfill a similar purpose. The biggest part of the Kokkes' fulltime business comes from a contract with Canada's largest cattle auction facility, Nilsson Bros. Livestock. They do the after-auction processing for the company. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Tineke & Kees Kokke, P. O. Box 7, Clyde, Alberta, Canada T0G 0P0 (ph 780 348-2355; falcons_98@hotmail.com).

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