Fence guy here, farming, cattle are all inherent dangerous. A few more thousand on a squeeze shoot would have paid for itself pretty quickly after a hospital visit. Check out auctions might find a old pearson for not much more than a new head catch... heck one of my customers uses a tsc brand squeeze shoot, i would not run it every day... but its good enought for 30-50head.
The gaurd rail works for alleys or even a bud box to bring them up just make sure its small enough gaps to not cut them...