A cattle crush is an essential piece of equipment for beef and dairy producers. Here are four things to keep in mind when picking the best model for your farm.
From collecting herd management data to safely keeping up with herd health protocols, a cattle crush is an essential piece of equipment for every cattle farm.
“Having a good cattle crush will make a big difference in a farm’s ability to optimise herd health and take the extra step in collecting performance data that will be beneficial to management decisions,” says Edward Wise of Wise Agriculture, UK dealer of Arrowquip cattle handling equipment.
As engineering for cattle crushes continues to advance for some manufacturers but remains stagnant for others, he recommends farmers increase their quality and safety standards when making investments into a new cattle crush.
He outlined four things cattle producers should take into consideration when selecting the best cattle crush for their farm.
1. Safety
First and foremost, a cattle crush must be safe for both the people operating the equipment and the cattle they are restraining.
Data from the Health and Safety Executive estimate 24% of livestock producers are injured each year, with 47% of those injuries being due to inadequate facilities.
To improve safety when handling cattle, farmers should look for a crush that has multiple access points that allow contact with all areas of an animal while keeping it properly restrained. This should include gates that give full access to the side of the animal, with top and bottom gate sections allowing for partial side access. Also, look for front hoof and neck access and rear access.
For both handler and animal safety, opt for a squeeze cattle crush rather than a model with a fixed width. Cattle that are often nervous in a crush, will calm down when a little pressure is applied to their sides. It’s also a good way to further restrain animals to protect both them and handlers when close contact handling like physical examinations are being done.
It is also advisable to look into the manufacturer’s safety research and safety warranties.
2. Manual or hydraulic
A common question often asked is whether farmers should go for a manual or hydraulic cattle crush. This is largely going to depend on the number of head being worked at a time and how prepared handlers are for the extra physical effort required to operate a manual crush.
For larger herds working upwards of 100 head of cattle at a time or smaller herds needing to work more efficiently, the hydraulic route is recommended. While it is a bigger investment upfront, a hydraulic speeds up the flow of work, resulting in a financial return associated with time savings.
Hydraulic cattle crushes are a great option for farms where an operator’s physical build needs to be taken out of the equation to keep up with the flow of cattle. The company's Q-Power 107 Series hydraulic crush is operated by levers mounted on a swinging arm that is at waist height and requires no physical effort to operate the head gate, rear gate and squeeze.
A manual cattle crush should be easy to open and close the head gate and to apply the squeeze. Accessibility gates should be easy to open and swing around without requiring the handler to handle any weight.
3. Works with animal behaviour
A critical element to the safety and efficiency of a cattle crush is choosing a design that is based on animal behaviour.
Farmers need to look beyond the basic elements of a cattle crush and look for design elements that will work with animal behaviour instead of against it.
This starts by selecting a crush that has been engineered for quietness to help keep both cattle and handlers calm. Look for engineering that mitigates the clang of metal on metal with nylon bushings on moving parts and nylon coatings on slam latches.
Crushes that rattle and bang are only going to agitate cattle and give them a negative experience within the crush, which can affect their willingness to go into it in the future.
To help quieten cattle and prevent slipping, textured rubber floor can be highly effective as it provides better traction, which helps keep them calm and muffles any noise that would have been created from a metal floor.
Lighting needs to be kept in mind too as cattle are hesitant to travel forward through an area that has poor lighting – their natural behaviour is to travel towards light.
To improve the flow of cattle through a crush, a cattle crush with slats in the headgate that let light through is advisable. Farmers should also be mindful of the lighting conditions of where the crush is placed.
4. Warranty and customer service
With the price increases seen throughout the machinery sector in recent years, farmers need to invest in equipment that will yield them a return for a long period of time. Along with the functionality of the crush coming into play, an equally important factor is manufacturer-backed build quality and customer care.
“A cattle crush should be built to last on your farm for more than a decade. It should also have a manufacturer warranty to support this,” concluded Mr Wise.
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