Cattle cannot see directly behind themselves, so they will invariably turn to keep a handler or a perceived threat in their sight of view. Because of lack of depth perception, they cannot distinguish blind turns in buildings or alleyways, which will cause them to move very slowly, if at all, and can be a great source of frustration if you don’t understand the reason for it. They may balk at shadows in their path bright colors may produce striking contrasts or something as simple as a change in footing from dirt to concrete or pavement may spook them. This results in extreme sensitivity to contrasts. Cattle will move from dim lighting towards brightly lit areas as long as bright light does not hit them directly in the eyes.Ĭattle are essentially color blind and have very poor depth perception.Sight reduction (solid sided facilities) reduces distraction and lowers stress levels in livestock.Proper clothing and protective wear are essential particularly steel toed shoes.Facilities should be designed to allow easy and rapid egress of human handlers.Keep areas clean and dry to avoid slips and falls by both handlers and livestock.Shadows, bright colors, ruts and holes can cause them to spook. While cattle can see 340 degrees around them, and have wide peripheral vision, they have poor depth perception. Livestock have a blind spot directly behind them, so avoid this area.Įliminate shadows in working areas as much as possible. The simple basics of safe animal handling include:ĭon’t use loud voices or noises and don’t wave arms (white noise or radio music, however, is fine and actually can be calming to livestock)Īpproach animals slowly and from the side to avoid spooking it. Temple Grandin, Associate Professor of animal science at Colorado State University, and well-known livestock behavior specialist, has a website with a tremendous volume of information and has written many handbooks on simple cattle handling facilities that take into consideration cattle’s natural instincts I highly recommend any information she supplies, as she has done more to facilitate humane slaughter than any other single person. People have a habit of giving animals human qualities and forget that our four legged friends can quickly revert to primal reactions when threatened or stressed.įirst of all, there are excellent cattle handling guidelines that can be gleaned from the internet.
Understanding animal behavior why they do what they do, is paramount to learning safety techniques when handling them. They don’t speak our language, and while we don’t officially speak theirs, we can learn and practice handling techniques that utilize commonly known behavioral techniques, body language and positioning to minimize animal-related injuries on the farm or ranch. Cattle have a mind of their own: we like to think that Highland cattle have larger minds than other breeds, but that mind, regardless of size, is still their own. While in fact that very well may be true, that doesn’t change the fact that these are cattle: large bovine creatures that are herd oriented with the added attraction of horns. We all owe it to the novice cattle owner to supply realistic information concerning the keeping of cattle, any cattle.Īs Highland cattle owners, we often have the privilege of bragging to our neighbors, colleagues and new acquaintances (particularly those thinking of getting into the Highland cattle business) that we have the gentlest, quietest cattle in the world. Handling Highlands requires as much diligence as any other breed, and this article is an attempt to remind readers about safe cattle handling.
This is a breed that is often attractive to livestock novices, which we were when we purchased our first heifer calves in 1983, and they are just as capable of inflicting injury as any other large bovine, much as we like to think differently. They have always been somewhat intimidating to me, and as I have never been fast on my feet, even in younger, more svelte days, I retain a sense of awe and respect for the power, weight and size of our cattle. I did not grow up with livestock, but adopted them relatively late (as an adult) in life.
0 kommentar(er)
