Sick-cattle management begins in the home pen — not in the hospital pen. And it's in the home pen where pen riders can create trust in cattle, resulting in the ability to identify sick cattle early in the course of a disease.

Cattle that trust their handlers are less likely to conceal illness compared to cattle feeling threatened by their handlers.

It all begins with the non-verbal communication between pen riders and the animals they're charged with caring for — and increasing caretakers' power of observation. And while this concept of being psychiatrist as well as physician may expand the role of the pen rider, it can make feedyard life easier for everyone.

“Successful treatment depends a great deal on how the sick animal is identified and pulled from the pen,” says Tom Noffsinger, DVM, Binkleman, NE, a feedyard health and performance consultant specializing in interaction between caretakers and cattle. The goal is to encourage cattle to communicate their true state of health to their caretakers.

“A pen rider's job description should be expanded to create wellness, not primarily to detect illness,” Noffsinger says. “The end result is better productivity, a safer work environment, and cattle and people with the opportunity to perform to their potential.”

In addition to their traditional role, attending and consulting veterinarians need to help caretakers learn and implement management practices such as recognizing and reducing confinement anxiety and creating wellness, he says.

Understanding predator-prey relationships is the foundation for successful cattle handling and the development of communication with cattle, which enables early detection of disease. If the sick animal perceives the pen rider as a predator, the animal will instinctively attempt to conceal its sickness.

“Cattle exhibit very strong prey-animal instincts,” Noffsinger explains. “Prey animals have survived in nature aware that predators select the lame, depressed and weak.”

If caretakers behave like predators, cattle hide signs of depression and disease as long as possible. A better understanding of cattle's visual, auditory and sensory abilities allows a handler to override such predator tendencies as chasing and yelling. This aids in understanding how to effectively communicate with cattle.

“Trust is won by demonstrating to the cattle that the pen rider isn't a threat,” Noffsinger explains. “It's part of understanding there's a difference between horsemanship and stockmanship.”

This relationship can be developed by properly communicating to cattle, such as avoiding focused, aggressive and rigid movements. In other words, not acting like a predator preying on the weaker animals in the pen.

Noffsinger suggests pen riders use pen movements that apply subtle pressure to initiate a response and release it to reward a positive response. Handlers who reward cattle motion with release of pressure can quickly train cattle, create mutual respect and develop trust between themselves and the cattle.

Understanding that cattle like to see what's pressuring them and where they're being asked to go is fundamental to low-stress handling. Cattle that trust handlers willingly turn their backs to them and walk away when placed in motion by the handlers, Noffsinger explains.

“This attitude of willingness based on effective communication has a positive effect on subsequent tasks,” he adds.

Pen riders can even help by not looking directly at, or making eye contact with, the target animal.

“Eye contact may be perceived as a threat,” he says. “The sick animal may not only want to avoid the pen rider — it may be driven to escape the rider as a reactive means of survival.”