Increased efficiency and fewer physical strains: the benefits of installing Gallagher calf pen gates

Marc Jones and his wife, Nia, moved from Wales to New Zealand in 2016.  They worked their way through dairy management and contract milking before stepping into the management of lease farms on the outskirts of Hamilton.

Today their business spans three farms milking around 1,100 cows in total, supported by a mix of five full-time and three seasonal staff.

The Joneses rear around 25% of their calves each season, and their calf shed is set up around a receiver pen. Calves are dropped into that pen first for tube-feeding or training, then the calf rearers take over.

“Before we had the Gallagher calf gates, there was a lot of labour involved in picking up the calves, going through the calf pen gates, opening and closing the gates, dropping the calves in the yard, chasing the few that escape and turning around and doing it all over again,” Marc says.

“Following installation of calf gates, there’s a lot less lifting and handling.  The gates allow the person on calf pick-up to keep moving and get back to other jobs, whether that’s in the shed, doing rounds, or whatever the day is throwing at them.”

The problem: double-handling and physical strain

Before installing the Gallagher Easy-Access Calf Pen Gate system, unloading calves into the receiver pen could be a real juggling act. Leaving the gate open while unloading 20–30 calves safely, could see a handful wander straight back out.  Alternatively, if you shut the gate after every calf, the whole job could slow to a crawl.

That inefficiency had a physical cost too. “If you’re putting 30 calves in the pen and then a few wander out while your back’s turned, you’re probably actually lifting the equivalent of around 40 calves each trip.  Reducing this double-handing is an important health and safety consideration when you’re repeating the same movements all day,” Marc says.

In his setup, the biggest gain is at drop-off. With the one-way, saloon-door design, Marc can walk in with a calf, push through and keep moving. There’s no stopping to open, close, and re-open a gate, and no chasing calves that slip out.

The solution: a one-way ‘saloon door’ gate 

Last spring, Marc saw the Gallagher Easy-Access Calf Pen Gate on display at Farm Source and immediately pictured it in his receiver-pen system. He bought two gates, one single-door and one double-door.

The gate itself is a recent innovation for Gallagher.  It launched in 2025 after being co-designed by DairyNZ in collaboration with farmers and Quality Consultants of New Zealand (QCONZ).

Development was funded by the DairyNZ Levy and the ACC Workplace Injury Prevention Grants Programme.

Results: less strain, smoother flow

Marc doesn’t put a hard number on minutes saved per calf drop-off, but he’s clear on the overall benefits: fewer interruptions, fewer repeat lifts, and a faster hand-off into the calf-rearing area. “Time is money,” he says. “With our scale, we’re always looking to create efficiencies.”

From a staff-benefit point of view, the gates support safer movement and less fatigue. Marc notes that, for his team, less physical strain during the day makes for a better work experience.

If he was building a new calf shed - or taking over another farm - Marc can see the gates being part of a flexible, all-in/all-out flow.

In future, he adds, he’s considering extending the same logic to transport.  He’d like to fit saloon doors to the back of his calf trailer so pick-up and drop-off work “hand-in-hand.”
 

Take a closer look at Marc's gate system

Single Calf Pen Gate GG7303	Double Calf Pen Gate GG7304