Need help with chute blueprint

[Ed Norman]

I spent years reading aerospace blueprints and making what they wanted, but this thing is giving me trouble. We need a chute to work on our hogs. I've never dealt with a hog chute so I'm having trouble figuring out if there is actually a board under the hog's belly to lift it off the ground? If so, what are the foot rests for? Maybe I don't need the belly lifter if it won't be used for breeding.

There are parts shown in one view that disappear in another view. And how does the hog get out when finished? It doesn't look like the squeezers open wide enough. They call that part the gate but don't make it apparent if it swings sideways or up or what.

Help.

http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/abeng/plans/5387.pdf

[FarmerRob]

Good luck with that one Ed. I think I would call the folks at North Dakota Agricultural College in Fargo and see if someone there can help you with clarification. If someone with your background cannot figure this out then they have over-engineered it or poorly drafted it.

[agmantoo]

Ed Norman

I do not know what your "work on your hogs" is going to consist of doing but that is the most elaborate overkill of a hog chute I have ever seen.

I once had a Cargill finishing unit and a small farrowing operation. Thousands of animals went through the operation. Never did I need anything built to this complication. Besides that you are going to encounter some difficulty with the plan. A hog is not going to willingly go into the chute. I doubt seriously that the neck holding mechanism will hold a large hog. Can I suggest that you simplify your chute? Design a simple squeeze chute. Have the animal to make a 90 degree turn immediately before entering the holding portion. The holding portion should be out of view until the last instant before entering ( I learned this from Temple Grandin). All along the way have the access portion rigged with anti backup bars. Once the hog is in the squeeze chute simply put a holding cable on its snout. You can buy these. Arrange for a bar to be over the hog's back so it cannot rear. With it contained in this manner the animal will backup and stay in that position giving you access. Done right you can have the chute designed to where you can also load directly into a trailer or truck.
http://www.jefferspet.com/ssc/produc...=2&pf_id=16087

[linn]

Why not just buy a used farrowing crate? You can get them pretty cheap on Craigs List. It could be rigged up so a grown hog would go into it to get feed and then you could close off the back and put a cable around the snout.

[Ed Norman]

I'm glad others think it's complicated.

We want it for a few main jobs. Ringing and once in a great while castrating a big old boar. Plus the odd injury or inspection that might need done.

I was looking at this print mainly to get the size right. The squeeze did look understrength to me. I'm betting it was some student's project to draw this up.

So nobody knows if they lift up big hogs from the belly for some reason?

[springvalley]

I`m with Agmanto, we have raised thousands of hogs, and very few times needed a chute. We used a nose snare more than anything to catch a hog for a shot or something else. Or just cought behind a gate will work on most parts. >Thanks Marc

[bruceki]

I'm building a working pen on my property to load groups of my pastured hogs and sheep.

A working pen is basically a hard walled pen with a crowding gate setup so that can basically get the animals to go into the chute even if they're otherwise reluctant. It's something that I've found very useful for dealing with my cattle, who only see me every month or so and are a bit wild. With a proper working pen you can castrate, dehorn, brand and worm/medicate as a one-man operation, safely.

The same is true for sheep pigs and goats. having a setup to allow you to take the entire herd or flock and load them in a few minutes, or feed them one at a time through whatever process you're doing at the time, saves me hours of running around and means that I can do the stuff that I'd otherwise avoid becuase of the difficulty. It also means that I can weigh animals prior to farm kill so that I can show the customer the weight right at the farm. for things like BBQ pigs, where customers often ask for a specific weight, having a scale makes me a better retailer.

You can see part 1 here, or part two here. . I built one last year for cattle, which you can see at the following links (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5)

Bruce / ebeyfarm.blogspot.com

[bruceki]

Temple Grandin has some good measurements on her web page (minimum turn radius for various animals, length and width of chutes, maximum load angles, that sort of stuff. You'll find temples' page here.