Bud box vs crowd tub
- Thread starter Nicky
- Start date
Faster horses
Well-known member
katrina said:
Of course, katrina. You are a female. :lol: :lol:
:wink:Thanks Silver. Does your vet hand check, or use ultra-sound? We did ultra sound for some of the cows this year because it was earlier and our check guy wasn't sure he could be as accurate as we needed. It was speedy, but not sure how many we did that day. We've only ultra sounded hiefers previously.
mrj
mrj
mrj said:
We did the ultrasound a couple of years ago, but would rather not do it again. If we were good conscientious operators that pulled our bulls on a pre determined date I believe I would like the ultra sound. It does go very quickly until there is a question as to due date. Empty cows really tend to slow the ultra sound down as well, because the vets just don't seem to trust that the cow is in fact dry. If they see a calf they know she's bred, but not seeing a calf can just mean they haven't found it yet lol.
Having said that, I think there is a learning curve for the vets too, and as the thousands of cows checked add up, I'm sure the overall speed will improve.
leanin' H
Well-known member
My feeling is how ya handle cattle makes the day go alot smoother over what type corral you use. I have neighbored with lots of outfits that use everything from a new tub and alley to a wire trap and 2 by 6's for a head catch. The cattlemen (and women) who know stock and how to handle them seem to make due with what they have. The folks with little experience or too much attitude couldnt sort cattle and work them if God himself designed the corral. 
I built a modified tub/box and it works pretty good for our little outfit. Cows go in one end and come out the chute on the other. And my tophand is still married to me, so i must be doing something kinda right. :wink:
I built a modified tub/box and it works pretty good for our little outfit. Cows go in one end and come out the chute on the other. And my tophand is still married to me, so i must be doing something kinda right. :wink:per
Well-known member
Well said H. One 80 something year old can keep up to processing as fast as we want to go in both our tub and box. He has the last few years been mentoring a teenager who can by himself keep up as well. Not too many and slow will do large numbers fast. At least I think that's what is going on back there. It is always smooth and quiet so other than the odd picture there is no need to check. H, my better half runs the front end and I have learned from Soapweed that a photo journalist is a nessesary part of any operation.
leanin' H
Well-known member
per said:
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Poor Soap, i mean Peach. :wink:
Haytrucker
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- Joined
- Feb 11, 2005
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- 776
I have never used an official bud box design, but I have used, and misused several tub set-ups. Twenty some years ago it seemed fashionable to see how many cattle would fit in the tub. Now it seems more effective to know how many quiet cattle at a time should be sent towards a nearly empty alleyway.
One permanent setup I have used a lot involved a long 16' alleyway that met the tub gate and a 12' gate into a pen that offset the tub gate by about 30 degrees. A six foot high solid gate closed at the proper spot so cattle "escaping" the crowd pen were diverted into the tub.
The tub led to a 30' curved alley with a self catch chute. Myself, one of the owners of the cattle and one other cowman disguised as day-help, ran around 180 head of replacements through this setup to pull CIDR'S, and give two shots in an hour and twenty minutes. We were in sneaky slow mode, which usually gets it done the fastest.
I'm sure that is not a record time, but it was part of a 68% catch to synchronization.
I have seen the exact same alley take three hours to give two shots to 120 mature cows. Same crew, plus one dog. I thought it went pretty smooth...
One common theme I have read in many forms is it's probably better to be short one good helper, than to have too much help, no matter what the working set-up.
One other thought I haven't heard addressed; I would pay attention to how sunlight/shadows will affect any corner or crowd point in any system. I have used several different setups that function a lot better or worse depending on the time of day or year.
One permanent setup I have used a lot involved a long 16' alleyway that met the tub gate and a 12' gate into a pen that offset the tub gate by about 30 degrees. A six foot high solid gate closed at the proper spot so cattle "escaping" the crowd pen were diverted into the tub.
The tub led to a 30' curved alley with a self catch chute. Myself, one of the owners of the cattle and one other cowman disguised as day-help, ran around 180 head of replacements through this setup to pull CIDR'S, and give two shots in an hour and twenty minutes. We were in sneaky slow mode, which usually gets it done the fastest.
I'm sure that is not a record time, but it was part of a 68% catch to synchronization.
I have seen the exact same alley take three hours to give two shots to 120 mature cows. Same crew, plus one dog. I thought it went pretty smooth...
One common theme I have read in many forms is it's probably better to be short one good helper, than to have too much help, no matter what the working set-up.
One other thought I haven't heard addressed; I would pay attention to how sunlight/shadows will affect any corner or crowd point in any system. I have used several different setups that function a lot better or worse depending on the time of day or year.
gcreekrch
Well-known member
katrina said:Do tight wranglers help for either system????
You bet they do! :wink:
Not sure if chinks and spurs do much good though.
Haytrucker, I believe our crew has rigged up a shade to help with the sunlight.shaddow problem. Hopefully, we will someday have a 'real' cover over the working area.
Silver, we do pull bulls pretty close to the 'pre-determined date', but I do believe drought helps make that decision more timely!
We also moved our calving date back a bit later this past season, so that made the earlier testing due to drought a little less favorable for good results.
The ultra-sound was nice and fast and went smoothly.
My knowledge of all this is gained mostly from listening to whether there is lots of good humor at noon break, or fussing about the problems experienced. Maybe it has more to do with the abundance, or lack thereof, of good, funny stories in the group????
Silver, we do pull bulls pretty close to the 'pre-determined date', but I do believe drought helps make that decision more timely!
We also moved our calving date back a bit later this past season, so that made the earlier testing due to drought a little less favorable for good results.
The ultra-sound was nice and fast and went smoothly.
My knowledge of all this is gained mostly from listening to whether there is lots of good humor at noon break, or fussing about the problems experienced. Maybe it has more to do with the abundance, or lack thereof, of good, funny stories in the group????
Nicky
Well-known member
Last jan we did 181 cows in 2 hours, catching them all, giving Valbazen, Scour Bos and pouron. We were all quite proud of ourselves 
Had the two of us, 79 yr old neighbor, his son and daughter in law, who are obviously good help. It was the first time using the hydraulic chute. I definately agree that the help you have is what makes any system work or not work. The other son of our neighbor is always in a hurry and is usually cranky. We try not to ever have him help. The daughter is great and her husband is pretty good. We all help each other and except for when too many are around it usually goes well at whoever's place we are at. The reason we are redoing our setup is that is falling apart, and not big enough to get all the cows in at once and sorted. We make do but want to do it right when we start rebuilding.
As Katrina said, this is a great discussion and I appreciate everyone who has responded
Had the two of us, 79 yr old neighbor, his son and daughter in law, who are obviously good help. It was the first time using the hydraulic chute. I definately agree that the help you have is what makes any system work or not work. The other son of our neighbor is always in a hurry and is usually cranky. We try not to ever have him help. The daughter is great and her husband is pretty good. We all help each other and except for when too many are around it usually goes well at whoever's place we are at. The reason we are redoing our setup is that is falling apart, and not big enough to get all the cows in at once and sorted. We make do but want to do it right when we start rebuilding.As Katrina said, this is a great discussion and I appreciate everyone who has responded
Nicky
Well-known member
katrina said:Do tight wranglers help for either system????
Maybe they slow it down :wink:
jeff in ca
Well-known member
I have to agree with H and Nicky. The people working the cattle have a great deal with how the cattle themselves work. My dad was a brand inspector for years and saw lots of outfits work cattle. He always told me; "stay calm and cool or you will be a fool when working cattle." I think those are words to live by. I am gonna have my wife read this because she is always giving the business because in her mind I never have enough help. But we always get by and done in a timely manner. I have also learned who to invite and not to invite when working my cattle.
Hayguy
Well-known member
an old guy always told me to "go slow and get there first" seem's to work in alot of things, including working cattle......
Well, today went pretty fair. Without the help of a bud box or a crowding tub we preg checked 370 head starting at 11:00 sharp and finishing at 1:45. Things went well with good help and the cows worked quietly.
Tomorrow we will load the calves and culls out for sale on Thursday. Hopefully that goes as smoothly.
Tomorrow we will load the calves and culls out for sale on Thursday. Hopefully that goes as smoothly.
redrobin said:
Keep in mind that's preg checking time, we took time before the vet got there to sort the calves from the cows. Also there was no shots of any kind given to the cows at this point, although I did trim hair out of some of the cows ears to make the tags more visable and add RFID tags to cull cows that didn't have on already. It's good when the cows are loose, vet said he just did a herd where he had to dig out every cow.
jodywy
Well-known member
we have to bleed when we preg..... too many elk here
Nicky
Well-known member
So Silver, since that is an amazing amount of cows in a very short time...what is your homemade contraption like? That may be what we want to build
Nicky said:So Silver, since that is an amazing amount of cows in a very short time...what is your homemade contraption like? That may be what we want to build
Oh, I expect it's very much like any other home built setup across the country. It has it's faults and drawbacks, and I give full credit to vet and crew for being good cattle folks all the way around.
I just may draw it up for you, and we can discuss where we've missed the obvious or maybe done something different that may work in your situation.