Portable Cattle Crowding Alley

Portable Cattle Crowding Alley LIVESTOCK Handling 10-6-9 A portable cattle crowding alley helps Jeff Potter, Redwood Falls, Minn., work cattle in different pastures without setting up permanent alleys in each pasture. "Our veterinarian has his own working chute. When he comes out, we want to speed him up as much as possible. With this crowding alley there's always a cow or calf waiting for him," says Potter. He backs the alley up to the corral with a pickup or tractor and uses a winch to set the unit down on the ground. The vet parks his chute at the front of the alley, which is 28 ft. long and made up of two parts. The rear part is the crowding alley itself and the front consists of a 4-ft. A.I. cage which lets the vet get behind the animal. The alley is made from 1¥-in. sq. tubing and axles from an old chopper. One side of the alley is adjustable for width so that by moving that side in or out a notch, widths can be adjusted for either cows or calves. They can't turn around in the alley and they can't back out because of backup stops built into the stationary side of the chute. At the front of the alley is a swinging cut-off gate so the animals can go through one at a time but can't run into the vet when he's working behind an animal. "It holds three large cows or seven 300-lb. calves," says Potter. "One man can set it up and work it alone. We use it on five different pastures. Since we're in the purebred cattle business, we work each pasture at least five different times during the year for A.I., dehorning, flytags, castrating, and tattooing. I wouldn't be without it. Saves time and cuts down on the length of vet visits." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jeff Potter, Rt. 1, Box 133B, Redwood Falls, Minn. 56283 (ph 507 637-3087).

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