I'm new to this stuff and not sure if this is already out there. Does anyone rent a mobile squeeze chute to run less than a dozen cows through for vaccines and treatments? Or am I overthinking?

If you're just going to vaccinate, you can do that in the chute with out the squeeze chute.

That's a good point.

Blanco Jimenez said:

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If you're just going to vaccinate, you can do that in the chute with out the squeeze chute.

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I would add "hopefully" to your plan...and worth a try.

Stressed cattle can do some extraordinary things, typically none of them good.

We give most if not all shots using just a head gate to keep the cows from shifting around too much when ear tagging and using needles. For pour on wormer, crowding method works fine.

Prefer the swinging door style head gate over the scissor style (Preifert).

I've thought about using just a head gate but with little/no experience what do I need to know. Squeeze chute seems to minimize risk but cows still do crazy things.

Agree completely on putting together a pens/chute setup with safety in mind. Nothing worse then being curb stomped by an 800 lb. steer that bailed on you. If your cattle are polled look at the self catch feature some chutes have like the Preifert SO4. That chute works very well for me. Also google up Bud Walker and his Bud Box pen design. They are the easiest set of working pens you will ever use. Possible to have a smooth running one man operation with self catch and a Bud Box while you stay completely out of reach. The older I get the more I think about how important this is. Incidentally, Preifert has a scratch and dent yard at their manufacturing facility in Mr. Pleasant where you can buy equipment at a big discount.

https://waco.craigslist.org/grd/d/teague-rent-ww-squeeze-chute-with/7060669872.html

OP, came across this if you want to see what the going rental rate is.

I would worry more about the pens, crowding tub, etc than whether I had to use just a head gate instead of a squeeze chute.

If you really don't have any experience, perhaps you should hire some cowboys or a vet to come do it with you the first time. They can likely supply a squeeze chute. Not sure where you are or what it would cost.

Aggie Squared said:

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We give most if not all shots using just a head gate to keep the cows from shifting around too much when ear tagging and using needles. For pour on wormer, crowding method works fine.

Prefer the swinging door style head gate over the scissor style (Preifert).

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I have been living with the scissor style Priefert headgate only for 30 years. Before that we took down the animals with ropes like "real cowboys". That is way too much work for old guys like me.

Recently I found out that my headgate will not hold my bull. His neck is so tapered that the gate will not hold. I tried getting him in there and holding down the handle with my full weight and he still easily backed up and the headgate opened like it was nothing!

There is nothing wrong with the headgate. It easily holds some monstrous cows, but their neck is shaped much differently than the bull. Maybe the swinging gate type headgate would hold him?

Thank goodness I don't really need to hold him. I just wanted to change his ear tag. The old tag will do! If I needed to work on him I would put him down with ropes. I wont be doing that unless it is absolutely necessary.

It's about time to sell him anyway.... registered Black Brangus about 5 years old (birthdate in 2014 sometime)..... I need to trade because I have kept a bunch of his daughters.

I'd check we some local vets and see what their setup is like and if they can handle working cattle. I use my local (rural) vet for all my cattle. They are cheap in comparison to renting or buying equipment for the short term. And we can make quick work of cattle with relatively no issues.

You'll also learn a lot about the process and setup to think through how you want to set up your own place. I have a notebook that I've kept notes in the past two years to aid in my chute/pen design that'll be coming in 2021 to my place. It's going to be an expense but want it to be right.

I think this is the route I am going to go to start with. We are only handling less than a dozen cows and the breed tends to be docile. I'm not ready for the expense if I don't have to in buying a setup.

Spoony Love said:

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I think this is the route I am going to go to start with. We are only handling less than a dozen cows and the breed tends to be docile. I'm not ready for the expense if I don't have to in buying a setup.

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I agree with the poster above, just get a head gate of really any type of small gate for your chute pens and close it and run the cows up in there, then vaccinate while in the chute/alley. We have 12 head at small place we own and just have a head gate, it works fine with big cows, we don't actually use the head gate, just keeps them in the chute while we vaccinate. Would not recommend this for working your calves but if you squeeze enough of them in there with no room to move it will work on the calves also.

You really don't need a squeeze shoot for working just a few cows in my honest opinion...


now my brothers, they work 250-350 head at a time, you need to be set up properly and setup for speed and with all safety issues in mind.. getting kicked by a 400 lb young steer or heifer will leave a nice mark!

What vaccines are you giving? I'm taking over our land and cattle so this is probably something that I need to be doing.

Where are you located?

cz308 said:

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What vaccines are you giving? I'm taking over our land and cattle so this is probably something that I need to be doing.

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Step 1: Field trip / phone call to local large animal vet.

You'll get 10 different answers to this question here. Depending where you're located, some vaccines may be more pertinent than others. You will also want to maintain a deworming program / regimen.

Where are you? My extension agent has a mobile one that producers can borrow,

I cannot see vaccinating without a headgate (for me anyway). The reason is that I give calves a shot of 8 way which my area needs for blackleg. This shot is supposed to be "subcutaneous". I don't know how everyone else does it, but I reach in front or behind the front leg and grab some skin with my left hand and pull it out, then I inject just below the skin using my right hand. I dont know how important it is to be perfectly "subcutaneous" so I am just trying to follow directions. I would definitely have a bit more trouble doing this if the calf was not locked in a headgate.

I can see that it would be very easy to give shots if the directions were to inject intramuscular.

I do not have the benefit of getting to observe different methods..... making the youtube pretty awesome to get ideas. I have only learned from my dads methods. I think I am doing it right.... or good enough anyway.

I'm located in Madison county. After talking with a few others about how they do small numbers, I am going to transport to the vet, who is close by anyway, and really save up for what I want not just what I can get.

I don't see us expanding to enough cows to really need big pens. We are going to run a small frame cow anyway, which may make it just as easy to transport to the vet as take the time and money to build out right now. One day, though we will be doing it ourselves.

Allen: basically we use a flat slide gate where many use a head gate. We jam the animals whatever size & "crowd" them(if they are big enough) with a pipe. This holds them still enough to administer any subcutaneous injections. Changing ear tags are a bit more challenging but very doable. Smaller calves we usually run they the chute to the slide gate and man handle them. Works well if you are a crew of two or more people.

Looks like OP found a squeeze chute after all and that spoony love was too much to resist.

THREAD END

I recently replaced our squeeze chute and finally had cooperating weather and worked 100 head Sunday.

Compared to the 30-40 year old chute that was there previously it was a breeze. When we replaced the chute, we poured a small 12'x12' concrete pad for it to sit on. After running them all through the chute it was clear that we made the right decision in replacing it.