Headgates and squeeze crush

Tipperarymike

Hi all

I am thinking of investing in a new headgate and came across the set ups I linked below. I have a suckler herd of just under 100 and to be honest the feckers are that bloody lively it is life and/or limb threatening to be handling them without the best and safest I could afford. Other years that was less of an issue as we used to use pour ons instead of drenching but this year I have decided to switch that around and when we did the drenching a few weeks ago twas hairy enough for anyone....

So the ones I looked at so far were

http://www.rancher-equipment.co.uk/products_detail.asp?prod=4

http://www.ritchie-d.co.uk/content/squeeze-crate-q-catch-headyoke

http://www.premier-livestock.co.uk/livestock-equipment

Does anyone currently use anything like these or even know of an Irish company that makes/sells these. Would rather spend the money here at home than over in the UK if at all possible

Thanks for taking the time

Michael

mossfort

Tipperarymike wrote: »

Hi all

I am thinking of investing in a new headgate and came across the set ups I linked below. I have a suckler herd of just under 100 and to be honest the feckers are that bloody lively it is life and/or limb threatening to be handling them without the best and safest I could afford. Other years that was less of an issue as we used to use pour ons instead of drenching but this year I have decided to switch that around and when we did the drenching a few weeks ago twas hairy enough for anyone....

So the ones I looked at so far were

http://www.rancher-equipment.co.uk/products_detail.asp?prod=4

http://www.ritchie-d.co.uk/content/squeeze-crate-q-catch-headyoke

http://www.premier-livestock.co.uk/livestock-equipment

Does anyone currently use anything like these or even know of an Irish company that makes/sells these. Would rather spend the money here at home than over in the UK if at all possible

Thanks for taking the time

Michael

they look a bit expensive for the job they do. it might be cheaper to buy a good automatic gate and get somebody to fabricate the race part of it.
there are 2 companies in meath that specialise in crushes and pens.
http://cattlemaster.co.uk/contact.php
http://www.persteel.com/

pakalasa

A lot of companies do these in Ireland. What part of country are you in?

O'Donovan Engineering Co. Ltd
Coachford - Co. Cork - Ireland

http://www.odonovaneng.ie/agricultural-products/cattle-products/cattle-handling/

I dont have one so cant recomend any in particular.

bogman_bass

the cattlemaster stuff seems to be top notch but you have to pay a pretty penny for it

Tipperarymike

Cheers for the replies lads

No doubt about it. These things are expensive. Anything up to 3k stg list price for the Premier one and nearly 5k for the Ritchie squeeze version. That being said these should last for years and years so worth it if it does what it says on the tin.

The Cattlemaster looks ultimate but I suspect it is an ultimate price too. Will enquire in to that one.

John_F

pakalasa wrote: »

A lot of companies do these in Ireland. What part of country are you in?

O'Donovan Engineering Co. Ltd
Coachford - Co. Cork - Ireland

http://www.odonovaneng.ie/agricultural-products/cattle-products/cattle-handling/

I dont have one so cant recomend any in particular.

tipperarymike should come away down to cork... leave the jersey at home :P


but donovans do make good stuff

Tipperarymike

We reluctantly have to hand it to Cork today. They schooled Tipp for sure. Good win for them and luckily the year aint over yet

I have an O Donovan headgate already and I couldnt fault it. Not sure they make their own squeeze chute though as on their site it seems to be IAE stuff and not keen on them at all

odelbelle

Just to let ye know, we do manufacture and distribute direct to farm, full crush and handling setups we have a number of standard options available. As Tipperary Mike said we also distribute the IAE full crush systems. Depending on what kind of extra features etc you want these can be very suitable and are reasonably affordable in comparison to other systems on the market.
The main thing for you to do is sit down, make up a wish list of what features you NEED the new system to have. Then look at what extras you would like.
If you are clever about the design you can eliminate a lot of the stress on the animal (and yourself) when handling, but most importantly not have to spend a fortune.
I have just put our crush brochure on our website which has a sample layout on the back. This is done all using standard panels and gates. I hope it helps.http://www.odonovaneng.ie/agricultural-products/cattle-products/cattle-handling/

We are currently redesigning our website and I know there are pages that need some work, if anyone has any suggestions for improvement I would love to hear them.

Thanks

Dee

pakalasa

This might be of interest too.

Temple Grandin is an autistic woman in the USA who designs livestock handling facilities. Some interesting points here about circular feed chutes and things that spook cattle like light, odd shapes etc. Also, if they think they are escaping, they will run up the chute no problem.

http://www.grandin.com/

bonaparte2

ya, temple grandin is fantastic, really pioneered design in this area

odelbelle

That is a really interesting website. I have seen this in New Zealand and Australia....where they have lots of space out in paddocks. But I have also seen farms in Ireland with limited space making really clever use of natural shade and light areas and building that into their crush design.