"Silencer" Cattle Handling Chute
Back when my grandfather ran about a hundred head of beef cattle, it seemed like he called up the entire neighborhood to help when it came time for vaccination in the spring. In the fast pace of modern farming, who has the time of day to help a neighbor vaccinate their cattle? I know I sure don’t.
Through the recent findings of a talented animal behaviorist, Temple Grandin, and the work by Moly Manufacturing Inc., there is now a cattle-handling chute that can significantly reduce the amount of time, energy, and help needed to work cattle. This chute is called the “Silencer”.
Pros of the "Silencer" Chute
First and foremost, it operates on a complete hydraulic system with a portable remote control or a control box attached to the equipment. Through the flip of a switch, the hydraulics will open/close gates, open/close head chutes, compress/ decompress panels along side the animal, and raise/lower the height of the chute. Because this equipment operates completely on hydraulics, there is only one person needed in the chute handling area, and one or two people needed to round up the cattle instead of the entire neighborhood.
Second of all, the “Silencer” operates on the “Flight Zone Avoidance System”, which allows the cattle to feel comfortable with their surroundings providing a stress-free experience when being worked with. An animal’s flight zone is the 360-degree area surrounding its body. Their flight zone varies according to the animal’s tameness. Once a human enters the flight zone, the animal will then move. If the human is outside of the flight zone, the animal will stand still. Because the silencer operates on the “Flight Zone Avoidance System”, it allows for the animal to feel as calm as possible while work is being done. As the animal becomes used to the equipment, the area of the flight zone decreases drastically.
Third of all, the silencer utilizes some of the findings of Temple Grandin in its design. One of the features on the high tech piece of equipment is the use of blinds. This prevents the animal from being able to see people as it is going through the chute, keeping the animal calm during the process. However, because of the direction the blinds are facing, the handler can still see the animal and its every move. Another feature of the “Silencer” cattle chute is the squeeze panels. With the flip of one hydraulic switch, the chute will slowly close in on the calf’s body, creating a calming atmosphere for the animal. The squeeze panels help the animal to feel comfortable as well as allow the handler to do the necessary work on the animal.
Cons of the "Silencer" Chute
The only con I can come up with for the “Silencer” handling chute is the price, which comes to about $15,400. I can certainly think of a hundred things I could do with $15,400, but I can promise you the silencer chute is worth the money.
Comparison
Brands of cattle handling systems such as Priefert and For-Most are other companies that offer a product similar to the "Silencer", however their systems still have a ways to come before they can be put in the same category as the "Silencer". First of all, their chutes do not use hydraulics. This in turn requires much more man power and helpers than it would with the "Silencer" hydraulic system. Second of all, these chutes do not take into consideration the animal's comfort level to the extent that the "Silencer" does. The competitors do not use the "Flight Zone Avoidance" technique as talked about before which is a variable technique determined by the animal's overall level of tameness and comfort level. Third of all, Priefert and For-Most do not utilize Temple Grandin's design techniques such as solid panels and blinds to keep the animal calm. With that being said, the "Silencer" handling chute is undoubtedly miles ahead of its competitors and there truly is no comparison between them.
Comparison
Brands of cattle handling systems such as Priefert and For-Most are other companies that offer a product similar to the "Silencer", however their systems still have a ways to come before they can be put in the same category as the "Silencer". First of all, their chutes do not use hydraulics. This in turn requires much more man power and helpers than it would with the "Silencer" hydraulic system. Second of all, these chutes do not take into consideration the animal's comfort level to the extent that the "Silencer" does. The competitors do not use the "Flight Zone Avoidance" technique as talked about before which is a variable technique determined by the animal's overall level of tameness and comfort level. Third of all, Priefert and For-Most do not utilize Temple Grandin's design techniques such as solid panels and blinds to keep the animal calm. With that being said, the "Silencer" handling chute is undoubtedly miles ahead of its competitors and there truly is no comparison between them.
Overall
Overall, I would definitely recommend this piece of equipment. There is no other handling chute like it. In the end, the handler will be less exhausted, the cattle will be happier, and your neighbors will be more than thrilled to come help use this high-tech piece of equipment.
http://grandin.com/behaviour/principles/flight.zone.html
http://www.molysilencerchutes.com/
I did not know a lot about "silencer" cattle chutes. This was very interesting to me coming from a city background.
ReplyDeleteNicely written explanation of the "Pros" section, it gave some great explanations of the features of the chute as well as some basic background as to why those features are important. I can see you found it harder for the "Cons" section but if you can't find anything wrong with the equipment then I guess you have pretty good reason for that.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds a little bias to be or uninformed. All chutes on the market have pros and cons. Silencer definelty has its fair share of cons. I have been around all kinds of working chutes in my life time. Silencer uses weaker gauges of metal compared to some manufacturers. They also have a cylinder under the chute that fails every couple of years to due to its bad design and placement. When this cylinder fails, good luck trying to keep animals in the chute. Author, please compare apples to apples not manual chutes to hydraulic chutes. There are several hyydraulic chutes that would give Silencer a run for its money.
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