Cattle Chutes and Branding Basics

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This week I learned about the importance of an efficient cattle chute set up. In my animal science classes last semester, I learned about the natural instincts of cattle. Cattle have the instinct to circle and always want to go back to their herd. When trying to sort or drive cattle, they have what is called a flight zone and a point of balance. This week we branded and doctored bulls to take out to pasture for the heifers and we also had to doctor two heifers that were sick. I learned a lot seeing the set up they had for their chute. They have a couple of gates that make getting the cattle through a lot easier. First, they have two pens set up before they go into the chute. This helps lower the risk of the cattle turning back, it is more efficient to keep them in a tighter space, so they have nowhere else to go but forward. They also have a swinging gate in the chute pen that makes it safer for someone to close the gate. If the cattle go into the area someone can slam the gate so that it will go around and “lock in”.

It is very important to not get in the way of the gate especially when it isn’t locked in. Safety is a top priority. My host makes safety a priority, so he explained to us why he has a hydraulic cattle chute so that everyone working cattle is safe. Especially, when working bulls, a hydraulic chute is very important. My host explained that when he had a mechanical chute a bull was able to throw his head and knocked out my host so he wanted to make sure that would never happen again.

When we branded the bulls, I was able to sort them, and I branded one. Sorting cattle can be tricky, and I am thankful that I had a good teacher back home that has helped me figure out the best way to do it so that it is safe and efficient. To sort cattle, you need to keep them moving forward and not circling back to the herd. You don’t want to go at them yelling or being loud, but calm and collected at first to sort them from their herd and then to get them moving you might have to raise your voice. As I learned in my class and from working cows back home, they have a flight zone so you want to make sure that if you want them to move forward you come to their side/tail.

I was a little nervous to brand at first because it was my first time every doing it. You want to make sure you have a steady hand and to make it deep enough. One thing that my host does different, is that they shave their hair before branding. I thought that was very interesting. It helps them not have to burn through all their hair and just get straight to the skin. It is a lot easier to do it that way. Back home we don’t shave their hair when branding, it always smokes really bad and sometimes the brands don’t come out very good. We also gave antibiotics and pills to two heifers. I was able to give one shot. They give the shot intramuscular in the abdominal cavity. They have given it subcutaneously in the past through the neck but is usually ends up in an abscess and is harder to treat.

One thing I would challenge from this week is the fact of being prepared. We had a little trouble trying to get the heifers through the chute as the chute panels were still adjusted to the bulls. It took us twice as long because the two heifers were able to turn around in the chute. I think it is important to make sure everything is properly in place before starting to work!

A couple questions I have from this week are how they found it efficient to give the cattle the antibiotics through the abdominal wall. I still find it very interesting. I have never heard of ranchers doing that back home. I also would like to know what different types of illnesses they have to treat the cattle with here and the difference from where I am from. They said they have a couple cows that get abscesses on their neck/face, and I would like to know what that is from.

I will use the information I learned this week for my family farm and my own cattle operation. I think it is very important to be worried about the safety of the people working cattle. Whenever I work bulls, I will make sure to not use a mechanical chute. Back home we usually have the vet come out and use their hydraulic chute so that it is safe for everyone to work.

Submitted by: Danielle Wadsworth
Edits by: GrowinG Internship Team