When handling cattle, it is the duty of producers to ensure good handling and care for both cattle and handlers in a safe and efficient manner.
When running cattle through chutes and corrals for vaccination and loadouts, it is important to make sure facilities and systems are working properly to avoid injury and unnecessary stress for the cattle and their handlers.
Finding solutions to improve facilities and design elements can be beneficial to cattle handling and overall system flow.
“Part of good cattle handling is understanding the facilities that you have,” said Julia Herman of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA).
“Beef cattle operations are diverse in size and scale, as well as the people working,” Herman said.
“There are many different facility types that can be successful depending on how you train your people and cattle handlers. Producers need to adjust their expectations and what they expect their cattle to do based on their facilities, while also considering temperament of the cattle and experience of the handlers.”
Herman recommends that producers who are going to work their cattle go through their system days in advance to evaluate the system before the cattle arrive.
Walking through the system and looking for possible risks and injuries the equipment can pose to the cattle benefits both cattle and handlers.
Ensure the entire system is checked, including the headgate, holding chute, working chute, crowding pen, holding pens, scales, and loading chute.
Producers can make sure all gates are functioning properly and not rusted shut, check if there are any sharp corners that would cause cattle to balk, and make sure flooring is nonslip and holes are fixed to prevent injury.
It is also important to know who is working cattle that day so they know and understand how the facilities are working. Without this quick overview and training, it can turn into an unsafe situation.
“To prevent balking of cattle when working outside, it is important to know what time of day you will be working them,” Herman said. “In the morning and afternoon hours, you may have stronger shadows, depending on where the sun is, but if it’s cloudy, that might help because you take a lot of the shadows out.”
Cattle will balk at dark shadows or high-contrast objects on the ground, due to their depth perception. These are some things that can be easily fixed.
Understanding natural cattle behavior is important to good stockmanship. Cattle are herd animals and want to be with other cows. They rely on their senses to respond to the environment and pressure, including people.
Because of this, building systems that allow cattle to see other cattle in front of them helps with animal movement within a system. “Cattle seeing other animals in front of them helps draw and bring positive flow as they are moving through the system,” Herman said.
There are two designs that producers may be familiar with tub systems with curved chutes, Both systems take advantage of the animal’s natural behavior and allow the cattle to see other cattle in front of them.
Either system can be designed with solid sides or open sides. What type of system a producer has may depend on how much space producers have.
“When it comes to open and closed-sided, it depends on the system,” said Herman. “I’ve seen both open and solid-sided systems work really well, as long as people are trained on how to use them. It depends a lot on where people are positioned and where they are putting pressure on those cattle.”
Another tip when considering system functionality is ensuring the cattle can see an opening and keep flowing. The alleyway leaving the chute, tub, or box should be a straight angle to where cattle can easily see down the alley for two body lengths.
“Adjusting the width of the alley or chute to the normal standing width of the animal being processed is important,” Herman explained. “If the system is too narrow, then some of our really big cattle won’t want to walk through because it is unstable for them.”
“Focusing on prep work to make sure your facilities are safe for the animals and the handlers can significantly improve how we handle the cattle on processing day,” Herman encouraged.
Recognizing where team members work best on processing day is another factor. Knowing what people want to do and letting people try different jobs can help improve the process.
Having open communication is important when working cattle and this includes having the entire team walk through the facilities and understand the job they are being asked to do.
“Time and labor play a role in how cattle are handled. I think if we step back and take the time to be intentional about how we care for and handle our cattle, I think we can make it a positive experience for them and the handling team,” said Herman.
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