Low-Stress Cattle Handling: The Basics

Reducing stress during handling not only improves productivity, but also prevents physiological changes that lower productivity. Handling stress lowers conception rates and reduces immune and rumen function in animals. It is therefore vital for handlers to have a good grasp of livestock behaviour in order to reduce stress and injury, which in turn will lead to increased profit.

- Izak Hofmeyr

Another key aspect that is markedly increasing is the public image of cattle farming. Consumers must have peace of mind that the meat they eat has been produced in a low-stress environment.

The good news is that creating a low-stress environment will cost you virtually nothing. The only cost is the time it takes to learn the ins and outs of cattle behaviour and to then practise the necessary skills.

This is the first of a series of articles in which low-stress cattle handling (LSCH) will be explored. This article looks at three aspects pertaining to LSCH, as explained in an article by two experts, Michigan State University (MSU) extension educator Ben Bartlett, and Janice Swanson, animal science professor at MSU.

According to these experts, “the secret to LSCH is understanding why cattle act the way they do and then using that knowledge to ‘ask’ and not force them to do what you want.” The facilities used on farms must also aid rather than impede the work producers do. However, no matter how well these facilities are designed, it will not compensate for poor handling skills and a lack of cattle behaviour knowledge.

The following is an excerpt from the article.

Why do cattle act like cattle?

Three ingredients control an animal’s actions: anatomy, instinct and experience.

Let’s look at anatomy first. Cattle see the world differently than we do. Because they are prey animals, their eyes are shaped differently and are located on the sides of their heads. A cow can see up to 300 degrees around itself, whereas a human has roughly a 140-degree field of vision. Cow eyes are more rectangular – our eyes are round – and have silted rather than round pupils.