When running cattle through chutes and corrals for vaccination and loadouts, it is important to make sure facilities and systems are working properly to avoid injury and unnecessary stress for the cattle and their handlers.

It’s surprising how quickly winter can creep up on cattle producers each year. Many times, it appears in force, while cattle-handling equipment, pens, alleys and related infrastructure remain either in a state of disrepair or only partially complete.

In order to maximize economic return, producers need to strategically balance factors introduced by different types of animal-handling facilities.