Here are photos of what I've got; it's hard to "see" the configuration, but I'll explain the best I can. I only work about 6 at a time, due to space. The animals are used to coming up into the barn pens; that's where they eat every morning. I try to keep them calm when they come into the pens and I periodically put them through the chute just for 'practice.' The 5 calves go through everyday because they have a bit of grain waiting on the other side. They haven't experienced anything negative in this area...yet!
There are two pens lined with corral panels alongside the barn and in one of the pens are the chute and headgate.
1. Here's a view from the pen with the chute and headgate (not shown); the pen beyond the green gate is where they wait. The silver gate is a sweep gate that can be used to push an animal into the chute toward the headgate; it only opens one way. There's a very small area between the green and silver gates where the next animal waits. (It is useful to have a helper to get another animal into that small area.)
2. Here's a picture of the silver sweep gate after cow has been moved into the chute. There's a chain on the gate that can be latched to keep the animal from backing up, but I also use a heavy metal bar behind the animal in the chute to prevent backing up. Once they move into the headgate, we can close the back gate of the headgate to keep the animal from backing out.
3. Here's a photo of the chute...oak boards, posts (6x6?) set in concrete, about 29" wide, about 15' long; it has a "step" alongside so that someone can step up and reach over to tweak a tail or apply dewormer, fly stuff, etc., if needed. It's hard to reach over to calves and short Dexters. Calves can, and do, turn around in the chute (can't have everything, right?).
4. Here's a shot looking down the chute toward the headgate.
What is nice is that this serves as a loading area also; a little tricky backing up a trailer to the chute, but it works!
Hope I explained this okay.
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