PIAPOT, Sask. – The third door in most new pick-up trucks is not designed to accommodate a freshly delivered calf on its way to or from the vet or pasture.
And many farm car and truck interiors bear the stains of newborn livestock. Cardboard, plastic sheeting and good intentions don’t prevent the inevitable mess.
A Charolais producer in this southwestern Saskatchewan town decided to fix the problem once and for all with a special box built into his livestock trailer.
For Blair Brost, cutting a lower door opening in the front of the trailer was the first step. An interior cabinet was then fashioned from sheet steel, creating an interior shelf in the trailer, still allowing room for the cow to stand. The new compartment was rivetted into place, and the whole thing, including the door face, was lined with spray foam insulation.
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A hole and grommet conduct a 12 volt power feed from the truck to a 12 volt heater, mounted inside the cabinet. The combination of heater, calf body heat, straw bedding and foam insulation provide a compartment so warm it “floods the air with steam when you open the door” once the calf is safely back in the farmyard.
“There was just no point in ruining the interior of the truck or freezing a calf when the space and trailer were already available to do the job,” said Brost.
“I think it’s an idea that a lot of cattle producers could benefit from.”
