Understand Cattle Behaviour To Achieve Low-stress Handling

Stress in cattle can cause these animals and their handlers numerous problems, and ultimately lose money for the cattle farming business. Dr Johan Cloete, a ruminant technical veterinarian with MSD Animal Health, says it is essential for handlers to understand cattle behaviour in order to achieve reduced stress.

- Lloyd Phillips

The US-published, but internationally read, Stockmanship Journal defines stockmanship as “the knowledgeable and skilful handling of livestock in a safe, efficient, effective and low-stress manner”. However, and based on many informal surveys that Dr Johan Cloete has conducted of livestock owners and handlers over the years, in South Africa the use of stress-inducing methods such as whips, sticks, electric prodders, whistling, clapping, yelling and manhandling to move cattle is common.

Cloete, a ruminants technical veterinarian with MSD Animal Health, says these actions are generally not due to deliberate malice towards the cattle, but mostly as a result of unintentional ignorance by livestock owners and cattle handlers.

Unfortunately, this ignorance can, and does, lead to not only cases of unnecessarily stressed cattle and resultant ill-health, lowered productivity and poorer quality beef or milk products, but also to damage to farm infrastructure and sometimes serious and potentially fatal injuries to cattle and people.

“The principles of handling both beef and dairy cattle are the same. When we work with cattle, we must create connections with the animals,” Cloete explains. “Another important reason for handling cattle using low-stress methods is to meet the increasing demand by consumers for improved animal welfare. An incident of animal abuse that is caught on camera and is easily shared on social media can do tremendous reputational damage to the beef and dairy industries.”

PREY ANIMALS