Evening Session

Low-stress Handling

Ron Gill explains method to handle cattle quietly and productively.

by Kasey Miller for Angus Productions Inc.

 

HOUSTON (April 19, 2012) — “There is no true stress-free handling method,” Ron Gill, of Texas A&M University and Texas AgriLife Extension, said, but cattle can be moved quietly when a handler works with the cattle’s natural instincts instead of against them. Gill gave participants of the 2012 Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) symposium an exhibition of low-stress handling and explained basic principles.

 

Humans communicate with livestock through sight, and noise can be very distracting to livestock, he said, noting that cattle are observant and will watch to see where you are. This can be used to a handler’s advantage.

 

“A cow goes where her nose goes,” he explained. To get her nose in the right direction, a handler must apply the right pressure to a cow’s flight zone. Each cow is different, so it takes practice to figure out the right amount of pressure to apply.

 

The trick is to get forward motion, Gill said, adding cattle will follow the lead animal. Apply pressure from the side (standing about the cow's hip, depending on the animal’s flight zone), facing the head. Back off pressure by backing out of the flight zone. Remember to place yourself where the cattle can see you and can see where you want them to go.

 

He gave the example of the “Bud Box,” named after Bud Williams, where to get cattle out of a pen, handlers use the animals’ natural instincts to their advantage. Push them away from where you want them to go (to the back of the pen if you are trying to get them out of the gate at the front). They will turn around to see you. Once they do, apply pressure from the side. The cattle's instinct will be to go around you, Gill noted. Because of your placement in the pen, they will go around you to the open gate and out the pen.

 

Cattle’s herding instinct, especially in Brahman, is a large advantage. Once the first animal starts moving, the others will follow, he said. If the animals can follow calmly, that will alleviate much stress on the handler and the animals. Essentially, you are then only “working” the front animal.

 

“To change the way we handle livestock, the biggest change we have to make is between our ears,” Gill added. He said that low-stress handling is not new or rocket science, but it does require a concious effort to change the way we handle cattle, and all employees must be trained. Cattle are smart and will remember being handled in this manner once acclimated, allowing the whole handling process to be smooth time and time again.

 

Gill suggested starting with a group of replacement heifers. Walk around them, get them used to you, and run them through your facility without doing anything to them. This gets them used to you and the facility, and gives you practice handling a group of your animals.

 

Then, he said, once these heifers join the rest of the herd, they will remember the easy handling and will work quietly. Eventually, your whole cow herd will work like easy clockwork.

 

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