How To Make Cattle Loading Simple

Livestock trailers make it easier than ever to get your animals from A to B, but loading cattle into yours is sometimes easier said than done. We here at Lone Star Trailers want to make your life as easy as possible, so we’ve put together some tips for simplifying the process of loading cattle onto your livestock trailer. To learn more, or to see the livestock trailers we have for sale, contact our store in Lacy Lakeview, Texas, today!

The Right Chute

A loading chute helps a lot, providing a confined space to funnel the cattle into the trailer single-file. But not all chutes work in all scenarios, so make sure to look at a few factors before purchasing one, including:

• Sheet height: The sheets on the sides of the chute prevent your cattle from getting distracted as they walk in. Make sure they’re high enough to keep your stock focused.
• Vision slot: However, you still need to be able to monitor them. Make sure there’s a vision slot that will give you an eagle-eye view without distracting the cattle.
• Portable vs Stationary: If you have multiple pastures, you might want a portable chute. If your cattle always load from the same area, stationary might be safer.

Additional Tools

The chute itself isn’t everything, so make sure you’ve got versions of the following that work for your situation:

• Cattle tubs just large enough to fill the trailer.
• Adjustable cattle alleys to keep them from turning around.
• Anti-backing bars.
• Sorting alleys.
• Handler pass-through areas.
• Alley gates to control cattle flow.

The Right Flooring

Cattle aren’t the brightest animals around, but they know what they like, and there are flooring materials they do not enjoy. Make sure the chute and trailer both have flooring that provides solid traction without gripping too hard, like rubbed steel and rubber mats.

The Right Trailer

Your trailer will need a bit of room to the sides of and above your cattle, but you don’t want so much that they jostle around and get hurt. That balance will largely depend on your haul, primarily the size and number of the cattle you’re moving. Whatever your trailer, make sure you take its dimensions and layout into account when you set up the loading area.

Minimize Cattle Stress

You never want stressed-out cattle in confined spaces, even if all they do is make the loading process a pain. Do your best to limit noise, help your cattle acclimate to their new surroundings and situations, and apply pressure properly—not too much, not too little. 

We hope this guide helps you and your cattle stay safe, unbruised, and happy! For more information, or to see the livestock trailers we have available, contact us at Lone Star Trailers. We proudly serve the people of Waco and Temple, Texas—let us serve you today!