Abstract: A crowd gate suspended pivotally from an overhead carriage driven along a track above a herding area from an entry to an exit by an endless chain slidably coupled to the carriage. The central portion of a lift chain connected on its bottom end to the bottom of the gate and on its top end to the drive chain and arranged to be arrested by a hanger as the carriage moves toward the entrance allowing the drive chain to continue travel resulting in the lift chain being drawn upwardly to draw the gate upwardly to clear a path to receive a group of animals thereunder from the entrance to then be herded toward the exit as the gate is advanced by such drive chain toward the exit. A lost motion device may be incorporated to permit the gate to, upon contacting an animal in the herding area, pivot rearwardly relative to the carriage to prevent damage to the gate. In one embodiment, the gate is electrified to provide a goading shock to the animals.