Livestock handling facilities for safe collar fitting | Nofence

Livestock handling facilities

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Livestock handling facilities

Nofence gives you flexibility to graze both existing and new pastures. To get these benefits, you'll need a way to access each member of your herd.

A handling system allows you to:

Fit and adjust collars

Fit and adjust collars and neck straps, especially on growing livestock

Replace batteries

Replace batteries when needed

Remove collars

Removing a collar from livestock

Designed for safe fitting

Fitting devices around the neck of cattle can be difficult and potentially dangerous. Nofence collars are designed so you can fit them without putting yourself at risk.

Common options include:

Chutes and crushes

Chutes and crushes for cattle

Head locks and stanchions

Head locks and stanchions at feed barriers

Handling races and pens

Handling races and pens

Mobile yards

Mobile yards for remote pastures

Barn infrastructure

Barn infrastructure during routine handling

Tame herds

Some farmers have tame enough herds that they can walk up and make adjustments in the field without any equipment. Others prefer a mobile crush they can bring to pasture, or use existing facilities during routine handling like feeding or health checks.

Herds larger than 100

For herds in the hundreds, using handling facilities with Nofence is standard practice. The collars are built to be robust and withstand normal use in chutes, crushes, and other common handling equipment.

Handling in sheltered areas

If your handling facility is inside a building such as a barn, fit a shelter beacon to prevent unwanted audio warnings or pulses while livestock are being worked. See our guide on shelter beacons for setup instructions.

If you use a trailer or mobile unit, remove your livestock from the virtual pasture in the app before driving out of the boundary. This ensures they won't receive warnings during transport.

Nofence collars are not designed for lactating dairy cattle, here's why:

Nofence collars are not designed to pass through milking machines. Most milking parlours have limited space around the neck area, and the collar could interfere with the equipment or become damaged during the milking process. Since dairy cows are typically milked twice a day, removing and refitting collars each time would not be practical.

Running a mixed operation?

If you run a mixed operation, you can use Nofence on the non-milking part of your herd while managing milking cattle with traditional fencing.

For this reason, Nofence is best suited to:

Dry cows

Dry cows out on pasture between lactations

Dairy heifers and youngstock

Dairy heifers and youngstock being raised on grazing land

Beef suckler herds

Beef suckler herds where milking is not required

Non-milking dairy operations

Non-milking dairy operations such as nurse cow systems

Still unsure?

If you're unsure what will work for your operation, our team can help you plan ahead before you get started.