A Tool We Needed 10 Years Ago on the Homestead

The recent ordeal with Rosie's torn teat finally lit a fire under me to purchase a tool we've needed for a very long time - a head gate.  A head gate firmly secures the animal so that they can be worked on.  You pull their head through the gate, pull a lever on top, and a bar slide toward the animal and locks in place.  The cow is then unable to move backward or forward.  Shots can be given, hooves can be worked on, the animal can be milked, etc.  

When you are dealing with a 900 pound animal, just tying off their halter to a post doesn't isolate the animal.  They thrash about.  They fall down. They pull so hard they break the chain on their halter.  We NEEDED this thing.  We shopped around and found it and it was delivered to the house last week.  This weekend installing the head gate was on my to do list.  Here we are pulling Rosie through it for the first time.

Tricia decided that a roof over-hang needed to extend over the head gate area so that we could "doctor" on cows even if it was raining.  I fashioned together a roof extension with some scraps of lumber and tin we had lying about.  I also stapled a piece of a cattle panel beneath the head gate so that goats wouldn't be able to escape the corral.

Here is a view from the 'cow side.'  One critical problem we found immediately is that I will have to alter the head gate.  If you look at the photo below, you'll see that when the head gate is fully closed, it leaves an 8" opening.  We measured the cows' heads.  10 inches wide.  Well, somehow the cows are able to twist their heads and pull out.  

I think I can fix this by cutting a 2x2 or a 1" pvc pipe, drilling holes through them as well as the vertical pipe on the head gate, and bolting the 2x2 or 1"pvc pipe onto the vertical pipe.  The would reduce the opening from 8" to 7 or 6 inches.  That would render the head gate escape-proof.  

Obligatory goofy pic of my wife in the gate.

As well as one of me.  Wouldn't it be embarrassing to get stuck in there and not be able to reach the lever to release it?

Here is one more photo from the back.  We have actually milked outside 3 afternoons now.  It is working great!  We put a food bucket in front, Rose steps forward, we hobble her back leg to the 4x4 that is anchored in cement, and Tricia works on her injured teat and milks her safely secured.

One more project that we will do to improve this set up.  We'll make the head gate a full squeeze chute by putting a 10 foot swinging gate that pivots on the 4x4 above Rosie's left shoulder above.  If we need to isolate not only her head, but her entire body, we would swing the gate toward her body and tie it off tight to the 4x4 behind her right back leg.  She would be totally immovable to allow for safe veterinary work.  Ten years to late, but having this set up will definitely be beneficial in the future.