Cattle race

A calf race leading to a calf cradle

A cattle chute (North America) or cattle race (Australia, British Isles and New Zealand) also called a run or alley, is a narrow corridor built for cattle, sheep, pigs and other animals to travel through when being herded from one location to another that is nearby. A conventional race consists of parallel panels or fences with a space between them just wide enough for one animal to pass through comfortably without being able to turn around, thus forming the animals into a queue that only allows them to go forward. It is used for routine husbandry activities such as drafting (sorting) or loading animals via ramp or loading chute into a vehicle; placing them one at a time in a cattle crush (variations also called a squeeze chute or standing stock) for examination, marking or veterinary treatment. They are also used at packing plants to move animals into a crush designed for slaughter.

An experimental humane design of cattle run, by Temple Grandin, gradually narrows so that cattle have ample time to form the queue, and curves to encourage cattle to move forward in a controlled manner (see photo).

Calves (and other smaller animals such as sheep) can turn around in an adult cattle race, so a narrower race is required for proper handling. Thus the width of some races are adjustable to accommodate different sized animals.

Cattle races may be portable, or may be a permanent fixture with a concrete walkway. Portable races may be made of steel, iron or aluminium; but modern permanent ones are usually of steel or iron (sometimes timber or even concrete) which is usually set in concrete, with solid or railed sides and a non-slip floor. Anti-bruise races do not have sharp edges, and instead use pipe with rounded edges such as oval rails; alternatively sides with sheet iron or steel can be found or built onto the races, which improves livestock movement and also prevents injuries from animals getting their legs or heads caught between the rails. Races that have concrete floors have the flooring made wider than the race itself to prevent hooves catching between the bottom rail and the edge of the concrete. The concrete is also not smooth like that on city sidewalks but roughed out to give the animals more traction to prevent slipping and injury. Lower parts of the race have side panels that may be removable in the event of an animal becoming cast (fallen) or caught up in which the animal is needed to be freed to prevent further injury.