Good livestock handlers are very quiet, seldom speaking when they work livestock.

November 3, 2010

1 Min Read
Basic Cattle Handling Principles

I grew up in the era of man vs. nature and man vs. animal type of mentality. Working cattle was considered something of a contest and a battle. If you didn't end the day feeling a little battered and bruised, you probably didn't work hard enough. Working animals involved hollering and waving arms, sticks and canes. The truckers who loaded cattle had hotshots and were not hesitant to use them.

Today we know that there are better ways of handling livestock and it shouldn't resemble a battle, but perhaps more like a dance. Folks like Bud Williams and Temple Grandin have demonstrated low-stress livestock handling. It may be hard to break old habits, but in today's social environment and with agriculture under increasingly close survey, the sooner all livestock owners learn and apply low-stress livestock handling principles, the better. Besides, evidence clearly shows it is a more productive way of handling livestock.

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