A
cattle chute(North America) or
cattle race (
Australia,
British Isles and
New Zealand) also called a
run or
alley, is a narrow corridor built for
cattle,
sheep,
pigs and other animals to travel through when being herded from one location to another that is nearby. A conventional race consists of parallel panels or fences with a space between them just wide enough for one animal to pass through comfortably without being able to turn around, thus forming the animals into a
queue that only allows them to go forward. It is used for routine husbandry activities such as drafting (sorting) or loading animals via ramp or
loading chute into a vehicle; placing them one at a time in a
cattle crush (variations also called a
squeeze chute or
standing stock) for examination, marking or veterinary treatment. They are also used at
packing plants to move animals into a crush designed for
slaughter.