Cattle guard

[Alpo]

I suppose I never considered this because I've never had anything to do with livestock.

A cattle guard, as I understand it, is basically pipes set down in the road so that they are level with it. They put this where the road goes through the fence, in lieu of a gate. You can just drive right across it, but cows won't walk on it because their feet fall between the pipes.

Would it keep other livestock in - horses, sheep, goats? Are other types of livestock afraid of it also, or is it just cows?

 

Story I'm reading.

 

>There were two sections of metal fencing on either side of the gate which was blocking a dirt road. The gate was centered over grating stretching completely across the road. The sheriff explained to him that the cattle guard kept livestock from escaping the property if somebody accidentally left the gate open.<

[Duffield, SASS #23454]

Yep, until it snows enough to fill it with packed snow where your truck drives over it.  Then it ceases to exist for practical purposes.

[Kid Rich]

I have NEVER seen a cattleguard/gate combination. One or the other. I grew up and lived in cattle country.

kR

[Alpo]

6 minutes ago, Kid Rich said:

I have NEVER seen a cattleguard/gate combination. One or the other. I grew up and lived in cattle country.

kR

That was my understanding - the cattle guard took the place of the gate.

 

Does it snow in Pecos County Texas? That's where the story takes place.

[Charlie Harley, #14153]

12 minutes ago, Alpo said:

 

Does it snow in Pecos County Texas? That's where the story takes place.

You’d be surprised how much it snows in that part of Texas. My daughter used to work oil wells in the Permian Basin and she could tell some crazy winter and summer stories. 

[Kid Rich]

I grew up in western SD. It snows. Sometimes a lot. Never saw a problem with cows goin over a cg. Once they learn it is there they avoid it. My great grandfather opened the first cattle auction barn in SD. I worked with cattle most of my life.

kR

[sassnetguy50]

No, a cattle guard doesn't keep all livestock in.  Those devil goats couldn't care less about it.  Some horses jump them. 

[Grass Range]

Cattle guards are very effective at keeping livestock where they belong. I do have one horse who will jump any cg just because he can. ( Appy)

[Hashknife Cowboy]

post removed due to technical difficulties

 

 

[Joke 'um]

Where I grew up, in Oregon, the farmers would sometimes just paint a cattle guard on the road.  I was assured that it works just the same.  Always seemed to me that the cows would need to be experienced with the real thing to fall for the painted one.  Guess they ain't too bright.

[irish ike, SASS #43615]

My understanding is their eyesight and depth perception is bad. So a painted cattle guard to them is still a thing that looks like a hole or trench that they can't walk over. I've seen a lot of painted cattle guards in the west.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

3 hours ago, Kid Rich said:

I have NEVER seen a cattleguard/gate combination. One or the other. I grew up and lived in cattle country.

kR

I was about to say that.  See what happens when you sleep in.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

1 hour ago, Hashknife Cowboy said:

yes there is always one.....

 

 

 

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

Uh, Hoss, that ain't a cow.

 

I never saw him jump anything and your video was partially  blocked my some sort of intrusive visual crap that wouldn't go away.

[Okiepan]

And sometimes you might even see a snapping turtle in one 

[Alpo]

1 hour ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

Uh, Hoss, that ain't a cow.

 

I never saw him jump anything and your video was partially  blocked my some sort of intrusive visual crap that wouldn't go away.

Forty, that video starts 30 seconds in for some dang reason. If you start it at the beginning, there is two cow critters, and one of them jumps the guard.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

Okay, like Oracle Jones said in The Hallelujah Trail, "Now I can see it."   

[Fence Cutter]

When you live in one of God's countries .... Sandhills of Nebraska as an example.... they will fill up with snow or over time blowing sand and need cleaned out.

 

Many cattle guards will have a gate right next to them or very close by so you can push cows thru when moving them.

[Brazos John]

When I was young, and lived in Delaware in the 60's, a nearby farmer's cow escaped the farm and was being chased by men in our subdivision. It got chased into our back yard, and I watched the cow jump over the 3'-tall split-rail fence between our yard and the next. I tried to post it on the internet, but it wasn't invented yet. I tried to take a photo on my cell phone, but they didn't exist, either. I had to store it in my grey matter, which is fading by the year. But, I can still picture it.  

[Grumpy Old Man]

When I was a lot younger, we had some Holstein feeders we kept at a property near town. We dreaded the call that they were out. They could jump a 6' fence with ease.

[Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L]

11 hours ago, Kid Rich said:

I have NEVER seen a cattleguard/gate combination. One or the other. I grew up and lived in cattle country.

kR

 

11 hours ago, Alpo said:

That was my understanding - the cattle guard took the place of the gate.

 

 

The Ranch my cowboy clubs are at has cattle guards were fences meet roads within the property.  At perimter roads there are also gates to keep vehicles out that should not have access.  You will find this at most properties. 

[Noz]

16 hours ago, Joke 'um said:

Where I grew up, in Oregon, the farmers would sometimes just paint a cattle guard on the road.  I was assured that it works just the same.  Always seemed to me that the cows would need to be experienced with the real thing to fall for the painted one.  Guess they ain't too bright.

We used to have to move our beef herd from the east side of highway 60 to the west two times a year.  One cow could not cross the white line down the center of the highway.  Each time we moved cattle we had to load her in a trailer and take her across the highway. 

I have never seen a painted cattle guard but I have no doubt that it would work.

[Kid Rich]

11 hours ago, Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L said:

 

 

The Ranch my cowboy clubs are at has cattle guards were fences meet roads within the property.  At perimter roads there are also gates to keep vehicles out that should not have access.  You will find this at most properties. 

Those sound like people gates.

kR

[Kid Rich]

4 hours ago, Noz said:

We used to have to move our beef herd from the east side of highway 60 to the west two times a year.  One cow could not cross the white line down the center of the highway.  Each time we moved cattle we had to load her in a trailer and take her across the highway. 

I have never seen a painted cattle guard but I have no doubt that it would work.

They work. There are a bunch of them here in Twin Falls, ID

kR

[Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L]

4 hours ago, Kid Rich said:

Those sound like people gates.

kR

 

Yep, but I would call them vehicle gates. 

[largo casey #19191]

Ranch I worked on up Largo Canyon here had a big ole Buckskin that would just walk across a cattle guard his hooves were so big.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Largo

[Sedalia Dave]

17 hours ago, Noz said:

We used to have to move our beef herd from the east side of highway 60 to the west two times a year.  One cow could not cross the white line down the center of the highway.  Each time we moved cattle we had to load her in a trailer and take her across the highway. 

I have never seen a painted cattle guard but I have no doubt that it would work.

 

We would scatter straw on the pavement when we needed to get cattle to cross a paved road. Having to occasionally move them across a bridge we would cover the flooring with straw if it was wood. On paved bridges we just covered the expansion joints. 

[Domino Fats 109182]

Dads side of the family had a pretty good cattle operation. I never saw one of the steers get past one of the guards but on the other side of the place there were sheep....couldn't keep them in. I spent some time trying to round up stragglers....much funnier now then it was back then.