Cattle Behavior and Cattle Handling

Abstract

Reducing stress during handling is important because excitement and other handling stresses can lower conception rate and suppress immune function (Stoebel and Moberg, 1982; Hixon et al, 1981; Kelley et al, 1981 and Blecha et al, 1984). An animal's previous experiences will affect its response to handling (Grandin, 1984). Animals raised in close contact with people will have less intense physiologic responses to handling than animals raised on pasture (Reid & Mills, 1962). Livestock remember painful and frightening experiences. Sheep will remember a bad experience when they enter the corrals a year later (Huston, 1985) and cattle will remember an aversive event such as electro-immobilization for at least nine months (Pascoe, 1986). 

There is an old saying "You can tell what kind of stock man a man is by looking at the behavior of his cattle." Cattle which have had previous experiences with gentle handling will be less excitable when they are handled in the future. Providing a feed reward immediately after handling will facilitate movement through the corrals in the future (Hutson, 1982). Animals with previous experiences with gentle handling and a feed reward can be trained to voluntarily accept restraint (Grandin, 1985). Wythes and Shorthose (1984) found that calves accustomed to regular gentle handling had fewer bruises during marketing. Calves handled quietly in good facilities will have lower heartrates compared to calves handled roughly in poor facilities (Stermer et al, 1981). An understanding of basic cattle behavior principles will help you and your clients to reduce stress on the animals and improve handling safety for both people and animals.