1: 15 pm– 3:00 p.m.
PR 201 – Facilities for Low Stress Handling - Dalton Maddox, Texas; Stephen Boyles, Ohio State University
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Low Stress Cattle Handling
According to Texas rancher Dalton Maddox, cattle adapt easily, but it may take longer for humans to accept and adapt to low-stress handling methods. He called the human mindset, or attitude, a primary factor influencing the ease with which cattle are worked.
"Cattle respond to how you handle yourself. To minimize stress on livestock, slow down and use cow sense," Maddox advised.
According to the Colorado City cattleman, even the best of facilities can’t overcome a lack of understanding of animal behavior. He encouraged handlers to be mindful of an animal’s flight zone and point of balance (typically the shoulder), and use them to direct movement. Working from behind the shoulder should urge forward movement, while applying pressure from a position ahead of the shoulder should cause an animal to move backward.
"It’s better to walk or ride a little bit to the side, where animals can see you, instead of directly behind animals. That’s their blind spot," added Maddox. "Apply pressure when it’s needed and release pressure when it isn’t."
Animal behavior characteristics also influence the construction of working facilities, said Stephen Boyles, Ohio State University animal scientist. As a design consultant, Boyles favors facilities that utilize natural animal behavior. Curved working alleys, for example, take advantage of the desire to turn away from potential threats.
Cattle like to follow each other, so they flow through single-file alleys or chutes best when they can always see the animal (and preferably two animals) ahead of them. Boyles recommends that alleys or chutes be at least 20 feet long, with solid sides to reduce outside distractions. Solid sides of uniform color also are advised when constructing loading chutes, crowding pens and particularly for sweep gates on circular crowding pens.
"Cattle will balk at strange or moving objects, so don’t hang your jacket on the fence. They might balk at a shadow on the ground or a bright spot from a hole in the roof," warned Boyles.
Other common design flaws include sorting pens that are too large, alleys that are too narrow and poor placement of gates that impede cattle flow.
— by Troy Smith