Redneck Engineering - Making a Squeeze Chute

I've mentioned in a previous post that we needed a head gate for over a decade.  Giving shots to cows, working on their hooves, milking some unruly cows in the past, and random doctoring on animal over the years can be described somewhere between a rodeo and a stampede.  Not fun.  We did install the head gate.  We realized shortly after installing it that we should make a makeshift squeeze chute.  Even if the head is secured, trying to work on a cow's body is mighty hard as they can move their entire body from side to side (AND KICK!) if you don't have some means of securing their body, too.

A squeeze chute is expensive.  We found a remedy for that.  We'll make our own using a swinging gate on one side and a fixed, but adjustable rail on the other.  We'll show you the completed design below.  The wise old owl on the roof, by the way, discourages hawks from killing our chickens.

is 

On the left side you can see that the gate is hinged off of the 4x4 which anchors the head gate.  On the right side, we have a 2x4 that is bolted, but hinged off the 4x4 in the front.  It has pegs in the back 4x4 that allows you to lift it all the way up when milking, as it is now, or put it down level to keep the cow stationary and from kicking.   

This photo shows the chute from the left side.  If the cow is in the head gate and chute and you don't want her moving, you simple close the gate against her body and pull a rope from the end of the gate and tie it around the 4x4 you see on the right side of the photo.

This photo shows the railing in the 'down' position.

But the proof is in the pudding.  Does it work?  Well, we have the perfect specimen to try it on.  Yep, we are still working on Rosie's teat that she ripped open.  We milk out that quarter every afternoon.  She kicks like a bucking bull.  She displays her displeasure and pain by trying to get away.  If ever there was a reason for a squeeze chute, this is it.

We coaxed her in the head gate with a bucket of feed and closed the head gate after we had put the rail down.  Then we closed the hinged gate and tied off on the 4x4 in the back, squeezing her tightly.  We installed a boat cleat on the bottom of the back 4x4 that we use to hobble a back leg to keep her further immobile.

How did it work?  She still kicked, but she could not move out of the way.  Milking was easier, and it felt safer, too.  It works!  We like it!  Veterinarians making farm calls to doctor on the cows or palpate them will be pleased as well.  Redneck engineering.  A cheaper alternative that gets the job done.