Adjustable Palpation Gate Is Convenient

Adjustable Palpation Gate Is Convenient FENCING Gates 30-6-10 By modifying the panels that form the alleyway behind his cattle squeeze, Steve Kenyon of Pickardville, Alberta, made a handy, adjustable palpation cage that's easy to fix if any part of the system gets jostled out of position by the cattle. Kenyon's whole cattle handling system is portable. Because nothing is anchored solidly to the ground, the panels or squeeze sometimes get bumped out of alignment a few inches. "Even on a permanent system, the cows can sometimes jar the squeeze, moving it a bit, and then the palpation gate no longer lines up and it doesn't hook anymore," he notes. With Kenyon's adjustable gate, it only takes a minute and a crescent wrench to fix. "You just loosen four bolts on the back side of an angle iron catch I made, and then slide it any direction you need to, until it lines up with the spring-loaded gate handle," Kenyon says. Directly behind the squeeze, Kenyon's handling alley consists of two 25-ft. portable steel panels. When he had them built, his builder included a 2 1/2-ft. gate on one end of one panel (which cost him only $25 extra). Kenyon placed this panel so that the "little gate end" of the panel is closest to the back of the squeeze. On the opposite panel, he installed a two-piece angle iron catch. It has holes down the flat side which allow four bolts to be positioned so that they rest on each of the sucker rod bars in the panel, and hold the catch in place. In the other panel, the door can be left closed and remain part of the panel itself, leaving the alleyway free and clear for cattle passage, or it can be opened into the alley and locked there solidly, using the adjustable latch Kenyon built from angle iron on the opposite panel. When it's across the alleyway, the gate forms a 2 1/2-ft. workspace (in lieu of a commercial palpation cage) behind the squeeze. Here, the operator is protected from other cows, so he can perform pregnancy checks or AI on the cow that's restrained in the squeeze. "It's nothing too fancy, but it's fast, easy, safe, and my vet really likes it," Kenyon summarizes. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Steve Kenyon, Greener Pastures Grazing Management Ltd., R.R. 1, Pickardville, Alberta, Canada T0G 1W0 (ph 780 674-8871, cell 780 307-4132; fax 780 305-2360; skenyon @telusplanet.net; www. greener pasturesgrazing.com).

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