Five top tips for stress-free cattle handling

Well-designed cattle handling facilities make handling more efficient and help reduce stress and injuries. World-renowned scientist and animal behaviourist Dr Temple Grandin shared her top tips on designing new or adapting existing cattle handling facilities to ensure they are stress-free.

“Handlers who understand the flight zone and point of balance should be able to move animals more easily.”

The flight zone is the animal’s personal space, and its size depends on its temperament. To move cattle forward easily in a handling system, the handler needs to stand behind the point of balance, which is usually behind the shoulders.

“If you want to get cattle moving along a race, stand at their head and walk towards their rear – the opposite direction you want them to move.”

A curved race is more efficient than a straight race. This is because it prevents the animals from seeing the crush until they are almost in it. It also takes advantage of the animal’s tendency to circle around the handler.

Cattle tend to panic even if they slip just a little bit, so non-slip flooring is incredibly important if cattle are to be handled stress-free.

“One of the problems with flooring is that it slowly wears out and people don’t realise.”

The area where cattle exit the crush often gets the most wear and tear, so it’s important this is checked regularly.

Solid sides prevent cattle from seeing distractions outside of the handling system; this may include people, vehicles and other animals.

“Solid race sides will also help prevent wild cattle from becoming highly agitated in the race.”

The crowd gate should also be solid to prevent cattle from attempting to turn back and rejoin their herd mates.

Unnecessary distractions include shadows, puddles and moving or flapping objects. Observing cattle and their behaviour while moving through the cattle handling system is key to identifying these.