Farmer’s Weekly – 30 August 2019

lookforpotentialpredators.
However,thismeansthat
cattlehavea blindspotdirectly
infrontoftheirheads,and
anotherbehindtheirrumps.
If cattlecanhear,butare
unabletosee,potentialthreats,
theybecomeagitatedastheir
fight-or-flightinstinctkicks
in.Whencattlefeelthreatened
inanopenarea,theytendto
moveawayfromthethreat.
Inanenclosedareawhere
theycannotescape,theymay
trytoforcethemselvesoutof
theenclosureormayattackthe
threat,asa lastresort.Inthiscase,
thecattlecaninjurethemselves,
oneanother,andanyhumanin
theenclosure,andmaycause
damagetoinfrastructure.
Cloetesaysthatgiventhese
self-preservationadaptations,
instinctsandbehaviourofcattle,
theuseofsolid,high-sidedcattle-
handlingchutesorofrail-sided
chutesshoulddependonwhy

thecattleareinthechutesinthe

firstplace.Forexample,a solid,

high-sidedchuteis idealfor

cattlethatarebeingindividually

guidedtoanabattoir’sstunbox.

A rail-sidedchuteis idealfor

timeswhengroupsofcattle

mustberestrainedtobegiven

vaccinationsororaldrenches.

Thespacebetweentherailsgives

handlerseasyaccesstoeitherside

ofeachanimalforthepurpose

ofcarryingoutthesetasks.

“Acommonproblemwiththe

handlingofcattleinrail-sided

chutesis thatthehandlersare

oftenina rush,andtheymake

loudsounds,whiptheanimals

oruseelectricprodderstotryto

getthecattleintothechuteand

processedasfastaspossible.

Thisunnecessarilystressesthe

animalsandcanleadtomany

negativeconsequences,including

havingtochasestressedcattle

aroundtotryandgettheminto

thechute,”Cloeteexplains.

LIVESTOCK Cattle Handling

ABOVELEFT

ANDRIGHT:

Cattlethatareused

tobeinghandled

withlow-stress

methodsare

farlesslikelyto

dangerouslyresist

beingguidedinto

handlingchutes.

LLoydPhiLLiPs

LEF T:

Beingpreyanimals,

cattlehaveevolved

tohaveeacheye

situatedontheside

oftheheadtogive

thema widerangle

ofvisiontolookout

forpredators.The

arrowsindicate

theanimal’s

visionrange.

dr JohanCLoete/

MsdaniMaLheaLth

calm handlers

He, instead, advises handlers to

have patience when dealing with

cattle. He cites the Bud Williams

Stockmanship principle that

states that when cornered in an

unfamiliar environment, cattle

need seven seconds to analyse the

situation and then turn around

to move towards known areas

within, or potential exits from, this

environment. If a particular animal

is a herd leader, the rest of the herd

will likely follow it and the handler

can use this to his/her advantage.

“The bovine eye’s pupil is shaped

flat horizontally. When the animal is

stressed, the pupil widens to allow

in more light to the retina. While

this helps the eye to see more clearly

at close range, it cannot clearly see

objects that are farther away,” says

Cloete. “And because cattle also

cannot see directly in front or behind

themselves, a handler must take these

various factors into consideration

when wanting to move an animal

in a particular direction without

using stress-inducing methods.”

The first step for getting cattle to

move in a particular direction is for

handlers to position themselves on

the opposite side towards which

the animal needs to move. The

handler should also be within

the animal’s viewing range. Each

animal has its own ‘personal space’,

and if a handler moves into this

space, the animal begins feeling

36 farmer’sweekly 30 AUGUST 2019