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The SILENCER Hydraulic Cattle Crush has lifted the benchmark in “Industry Standards” when it comes to Low Stress Cattle Handling equipment.

Many progressive cattle producers are now using the Silencer Hydraulic Cattle Crush to ensure safety for themselves, their families and staff, saving on costs related to injuries and lost productivity. They have also seen first-hand the improvement in animal welfare, with financial losses significantly diminished due to the reduction of animal injuries, bruising or death.

Temple Grandin, who is prominent in the USA livestock industry and has led the charge for animal welfare reform in the cattle industry, has endorsed Silencers outstanding equipment design. “Silencer understands the importance of the animals flight zone and the calming effect of correctly restrained animals”.

Silencer - the ONLY cattle crush with an independent Upper and Lower squeeze.

A common fault with almost every cattle crush in Australia is that the sides at the bottom of the crush are constructed too wide apart. This enables a stressed or agitated animal to enter the crush at speed often crashing into the head bail resulting in injuries to neck and legs – and occasionally resulting in death.

The Silencers independent “lower squeeze” is such an important key feature. The lower squeeze is set surprisingly narrow – about the width of a cattle track. This means the animal must now place its feet steadily to maintain balance which also prevents it from rushing into the Crush. If an animal shows a tendency to drop down, the operator simply applies additional “lower squeeze” to prevent this from happening.

The lower squeeze, along with the black louvers on the sides of the Silencer crush which prevent people from being seen in the animal’s flight zone, create a smooth steady flow of cattle. A crush with only a parallel squeeze does little to assist cattle flow and does nothing to prevent an animal from going down.          

Another common fault with many cattle crushes is that cattle are traditionally caught by the head alone. Cattle, along with any other animal, will instinctively pull-back when caught by the neck. This often results in the animal lunging forward and back whilst throwing its body about. Maximum head control can only be achieved by first gaining control of the animals’ body. An independent Upper and Lower squeeze provides this control by being applied at the same time as the animal is being caught by the head.

When an animal is thrashing about or is on its knees ear tagging, mouthing, dehorning, and drenching is not only difficult, but dramatically increases the risk of injury to the operator, adds stress on the animal and wastes so much time and energy!

Even a traditional chin scoop, which locks the animals head, adds to the problem of no control over the animals’ body and in fact actually increases the stress on the animal and increases the risk of injuries to staff.

NOW you can turn heads easily to the Left, Right and Centre!

The Silencer Hydraulic Neck Extender Bars allow for easy and safe access to the head and neck for vaccinating, mouthing, drenching, tagging, RFID, etc. This creates a safer environment for the operator and keeps the animal calm by removing the opportunity to work itself into a frenzy by pulling back, jerking, and throwing its head around. A pre-set pressure relief valve that directs large volumes of oil at low pressure assures the quickness of the whole operation — yet with light pressure on the animal.
The hydraulic Upper and Lower Squeeze and Head Restraint easily handles cattle from 120kg to 1000kg.

Hydraulic Vs Pneumatic

Hydraulic features make the Silencer Cattle Crush the quietest, safest, and most versatile crush in the industry. Hydraulics smoothly operate the crush and safely hold an animal because the hydraulic oil is not compressible, compared to air which can become jerky and spongy as the air pressure fluctuates with cylinder movement or load changes, which is what occurs when an animal is thrashing about. Air cannot be gently and incrementally applied to a head door or squeeze action as is so easily performed by hydraulics. 
 
Can an animal be over squeezed inside a Silencer Hydraulic Crush?  The answer is NO - the whole crush is set with pressure relief valves.  Silencer Crushes feature low pressure, complete opening action head & tail doors for smoother cattle flow, hydraulic neck extender bars, hydraulic head restraint, adjustable neck bars, and extra neck access for precision vaccination placement and much more.

So why is it called a “Silencer”?

Silencer is the quietest cattle crush on the market due to sheathed contact points - Silencers Patented Noise Reduction System (NRS) consists of oil-based, high density polyethylene material covering the 130 contact points located on both squeeze panels, guaranteeing a quiet crush over its operating life. Silencers “Smooth-Action” drop bars and drop pan latches have no steel-on-steel contact points, virtually eliminating the steel-on-steel banging and clattering of other manufacturers crushes which only get noisier over time!

Is your cattle crush an Asset or a Liability?

Too often the replacement cost of a cattle crush is a decision made upon the purchase price alone rather than an investment which needs to be projected over the next 10-20 years. On many properties the Silencer Hydraulic Crush has doubled the cattle daily throughput after replacing the old manual crush. This in turn has reduced labor costs by over fifty percent. This is a 50% reduction of processing labor costs every year for the next 10-20 years!
Add to this the reduced injuries to staff and cattle, along with reduced weight loss and shrinkage caused by stress to the animal, and the Silencer becomes a very valuable and productive investment.

Consider also when replacing a crush that in many cases a new manual crush can be a very expensive piece of equipment costing a great deal more than just the initial purchase cost. At the end of the day it comes down to getting what you pay for – so when you order your next crush – make sure it ticks all the boxes and actually saves you time and money, with less stress and skinned knuckles..
All silencer hydraulic crushes are custom built to suit your processing facility with various models available and with a wide range of optional features.

For further information, visit https://www.catagra.com/cattle-crush

Watch the YouTube video here.