Staging Pens By: Dr. Kip Lukasiewicz, Production Animal Consultation In previous issues, we discussed two important considerations when designing cattle handling facilities: reviewing the tasks to be performed in the facility and selecting a site for the facility. Now it is time to design the layout of the facility itself, including the staging pens, alleys, Bud Box and chute. The first area of focus is the staging area. Staging pens are the pens in which cattle are gathered before being moved through the alley to the Bud Box. Most staging pens are designed in a herringbone fashion, angled to the alley leading to the Bud Box, and they are typically 12 to 16 feet wide (figure 1). Figure 1: Traditional herringbone staging pens
Ideally, the staging pen is square or rectangular, measuring 30 or 40 feet in length and 30 feet in width. This extra width allows handlers to interact with sensitive cattle from a greater distance, but the handler must be experienced in using proper positioning to empty the pen. The staging pen should be approximately 20 to 30 feet from the Bud Box, giving cattle time to commit to an area prior to entering the barn without creating a long distance for handlers to travel when moving cattle from the staging area to the Bud Box. Each end of the staging pen should have two gates – one gate for cattle to enter the pen and one gate for cattle to exit the pen (figure 2). The alley leading to the Bud Box is typically 12 to 14 feet wide. When moving cattle out of a staging pen, the handler should be positioned on the inside corner of the turn into the alley. For example, if cattle need to turn left into the alley, the handler should stand on the left side of the cattle, pacdvms.com 17
