A Corral Built from Old Tires – February 19, 2019

A view of the bison corral we made from recycled tires and wood. We used a reciprocating saw (and many, many blades) to remove the inner wall of the tires. We then stretched and bolted them in-between the posts. Austin has to get on foot with the bison inside the corral at times so we figured he may have more of a chance if he gets smushed against a tire? We hope to never test this theory. Mainly the tires were free and we needed strong building material. The giant tractor tires inside the corral are used to encourage the bison to move in a circular direction towards the rest of the system which leads to progressively smaller alley ways and finally a squeeze so we can handle the animals for their injections, weaning of calves, sorting for slaughter and pregnancy tests. Fun fact: the “squeeze” was developed by Temple Grandin, an American sciencetist and proponent of humane animal treatment who noticed that animals are actually calmer and less stressed when their bodies are squeezed by a pressure device. Look her up!