When it comes to handling cattle, safety and efficiency start long before the squeeze chute. Every piece of equipment you use, down to the panels and gates, can impact how your operation runs and plays a key role in the health and safety of both handlers and livestock. If your cattle tub or alley is too narrow and doesn’t encourage flow, or if your system is designed without considering the natural behavior of cattle, your operation will suffer before the animal even reaches the chute.
However, at Arrowquip, we understand the risks, which is why we design every piece of our equipment to work with your operation, not against it. From portable cattle corrals to carefully engineered cattle panels and alleys, the focus is always on low-stress, high-efficiency handling — because when equipment is designed with everyone involved, operations will run smoother and safer.
Low-stress handling begins with the design
When designing your cattle handling system, you should never forget that it’s not just about what works for you but also your herd. Cattle are prey animals, meaning they’re sensitive to loud noises, shadows, sharp turns, and sudden movements. This is important to consider when planning out your system and means you should avoid things such as catwalks, dead ends, lack of light, and sharp turns and corners.
With Arrowquip equipment, you’re guaranteed a safe, low-stress handling environment no matter what kind of setup you get — whether it’s a complete handling system with multiple pens or a simple stationery setup with a cattle chute, alley, and tub. Features such as rectangular railings on panels to avoid cattle bruising, poly-coated latches to reduce noise, adjustable cattle alleys, and rubber flooring on chutes are all standard with Arrowquip products to ensure your system and operation run as smoothly as possible.
The 3E philosophy: Easy entry & exit
Through years of research and learning, it’s been discovered that cattle like to see light as they’re processed through a handling system, which makes complete sense. Cattle are most afraid of pressure, and a cattle handling system is one of the most pressured areas—especially as you get closer to the squeeze chute area. Combining this fear of pressure with a dark, enclosed system where cattle can’t see well is the perfect recipe for disaster.
That is why Arrowquip has incorporated 3E components into every piece of equipment they manufacture, and it’s one of the biggest components that sets Arrowquip apart from the rest. 3E stands for Easy Entry and Exit, meaning running your cattle through your system from start to finish should be easy. All of our cattle chutes are designed with a slotted rear rolling alley gate paired with opened rails at the back, open railed access panels along the side, and a barred head gate at the front, allowing as much light as possible into the chute to keep cattle calm and confident as they move through. Additionally, the Easy Flow Elite Adjustable Cattle Alley has the option of additional blinder panels that can be easily installed so you can control what cattle see and limit distractions, making entry as smooth as possible.
By incorporating the 3E components into our equipment, we guarantee the smoothest, safest, and most efficient cattle handling experience from beginning to end so you can save time for what really matters.
Designing for the future of cattle handling
The cattle equipment industry is nothing without the hard-working ranchers who use it every day to handle, treat, and process cattle. That is why we want to create equipment that will make the work not only safer but easier for those throughout the industry.
At Arrowquip, we work directly with ranchers, gathering their honest feedback on our equipment — what works and what doesn’t, and then make improvements based on what we’ve received. With our previous Q-Catch model that many ranchers have come to know and love, we were receiving feedback that it felt too small, so when designing the all-new Arrowlock and Powerlock manual and hydraulic chute lineups, we decided to add extra length, width, and height to cater to your needs and make handling cattle easier than ever.
Whether you’re handling ten head or ten thousand, we believe the best cattle handling equipment is the kind that works with you and your cattle, not against them. That’s why we carefully consider every piece of feedback.
By investing in cattle handling equipment designed with you and your cattle in mind and guaranteed to last for generations to come, you can elevate your handling experience while saving time and costs that often come with injuries from poorly designed equipment.
To view Arrowquip’s complete line of cattle equipment or to speak with a Livestock Expert to design your perfect system, visit arrowquip.com or call 1 (866) 383-7827 today.
