HANDLING and RESTRAINT OF FARM ANIMALS

All domestic livestock have contact with humans at

some point in their lives.
Reducing stress during these interactions makes
livestock more productive by reducing stress hormones
that can negatively impact economic factors such as
growth rate and feed efficiency.
 Therefore Calm animals are less likely to injure
themselves & have carcass damage and low production .
Viewing human-animal contact from an animal's point
of view makes handling less stressful.
An animal's reaction to people depends on prior
experience and the animal's genetic makeup.
Good experiences with people make the livestock
easier to handle.
However, some animals are genetically programmed to
be more cautious and nervous.
Livestock have wide-angle vision, they see most of the
world surrounding them
A small blind spot exists directly to the rear of animals.
Livestock generally avoid and dislike:
loud noises
strong wind
changes in flooring type or elevation
moving from light into darkness .
 Most livestock are social animals, preferring to move
in groups.
During a disease response, task such as rescuing
displaced or injured animals or administrating first aid
or other medical treatment and transporting animals
will require the handling and restraint of farm
animals.
Understanding proper handling and restraint methods
will minimize stress on animals and reduce the risk of
injury to responders.
Handling means a situation or condition that keeps
single animal or group of livestock under control.
Handling also can define manipulating with hand by
hold, pickup, grasp, grip or lift.
Regardless of type of animal you raise on your
farm and the feeling of being safe in your presence
may leave you off guard(unprepared), therefore
injury usually occur when the victim does not
expect it and all animal should be consider
unpredictable.
Lack of knowledge of animal behaviour could but
a handler into dangerous situations, thousands of
animal related injury occur, some even resulting
each year in death, so don't overlook the
importance of safety around the livestock.
Animal Characteristics:
Most livestock rely or depend heavily on their
senses of smell, hearing, and to a lesser extent
sight.
The sense of smell is particularly important to
animals, and they will often react to odours that
people cannot detect.
Cattle may be attract by the smell of freshly mown
hay, or a bull may become aggressive if he detects
a cow in heat.
Animals have extremely sensitive hearing, they
hear high sounds better than humans and loud
noises often frighten or excite them.
Cattle have a panoramic field of vision, which means they
can see everything around them except what is directly
behind their hindquarters.
If approached from the rear, they may be sudden shock or
alarm, cattle have limited depth perception and judge
distance poorly.
Shadows may appear as holes, so they sometimes balk at
sharp contrasts in light(opposite light colour ).
In most common dairy and beef farms, channel and
passageway walls should have flat surfaces to minimize
this reaction.
Diffuse lighting, which reduces bright spots and
shadows, helps quiet animals, therefore livestock move
more comfortably from dark to light areas than the
reverse.
 Behaviour
People who regularly work with livestock realize that
each animal has its own personality with limited zone.
However, certain animal behaviours are predictable:
 Most animals respond to calm, gentle, and consistent
handling.
Livestock become uneasy when their ordinary
routines or familiar surroundings change.
 Animals have a definite social order.
Dominant animals have first choice of feed, location,
and direction of travel.
Crowding a subordinate animal against a dominant one
during handling may disrupt their social structure and
cause an unpredictable and dangerous response.
Domestic livestock, especially cattle and sheep,
are herd animals. They may become agitated or
stressed when isolated and will try to return to the
group.
 Livestock detect people by their movement,
which is much more important to animals than
what is moving, or the location, colour, or identity
of the moving object.
 A handler's excited or aggressive movements
may cause animals to stop and watch the activity
rather than respond to the handling.
An animal's gender and breed also affect its
behaviour because of their weight, strength, and
inconsistent temperament, bulls, in particular
require extra caution and consideration, even a
bull's playful activity can easily injure or kill a
person.
Bulls require special facilities that allow them to
feed, drink, exercise, and breed without direct
contact with handlers.
Fear is perhaps the most dangerous emotion when
working with livestock , since frightened person
seldom( rarely) considers the consequences of his
action, his fear may also communicated to the
animals and upset them thus making handling
more difficult.
In order to meet these objectives, the stockman
should ensure before starting the proper
equipment is available for procedures and that
equipment is clean and in good working order and
he should know how to use the equipments
properly, efficiently and quietly.
Physical Injuries
some of most common injury stepped on by large
animal, being knocked down, kicked, thrown while
riding, or pinned between the animal and hard surface
and bites.
What can you do prevent animal injury ?
Proper equipment and handling facilities for your type
of operation are must.
Pens should be equipped with man-gate.
Walking or working surface should be free of tripping
and slipping hazards for both animal and workers.
Eliminate protrusions and sharp corners.
Lighting in handling and house facilities should be
diffused.
bright spot with mixed shadows in alleys and
crowding pens will often cause cattle to balk.
Handling skills are essential for managing livestock,
Inefficient and rough handling causes financial losses
because of bruising, poorer meat quality and lower
milk production.
Working with cattle may be dangerous, especially in
yards, races and dairy sheds where people and cattle
are close together.
High risk activities include working with bulls and
with cows and newborn calves.
Many farmers sustain minor injuries while
working with cattle or other farm animals.
Common injuries include cuts, bruises,
fractures, sprains (twist the ligaments) and
strains(damage).
Serious injuries cost farmers in lost time,
additional help and many other ways ,financial
costs alone are large.
Handling ,controlling ,restraining,
transporting and casting farm animal sometime
causes them distress even when they are been
well managed.
Three principles should kept in mind when conducting
these procedures to avoid harming the animals or
effecting their productivity :
The stockman should try to minimize any stress
experienced by the animals or the workers handling
them.
 The procedures should be carried out in such a
manner that the animals are not injured.
 These procedures should be carried out in such a way
that the workers are not injures themselves.
 People assistant should also know the procedures
feels comfortable while performing it.
Cattle are social animals.
 Cattle are easier to work as groups.
Aggressive cow should be culled.
Gentle handling calves will improve the temperament
as adults.
Bred is only one factor influence of temperament.
Cattle remember bad experience.
Bull and cows with newborn calves may be more
dangerous than others.
Make sure the cattle know you are the boss.
Arousal may cause to increase, hunger ,sexual activity
noise and shouting, dog barking and biting, Beating,
painful and strange things.
Arousal may decrease familiarity, dim light, low
frequency sound , silence and familiar people.
 SHEEP
Evaluate the task and possible responses of the sheep,
keep in mind all the facilities available, sufficient people
and the planning rout is essential.
Once handling has started, such preparation helps the job
to go smoothly and lessen delay.
Because of the relative small size of sheep we tend to lift
and move them manually ,often with a bent back, such
action may cause low grade back injury with a
cumulative effect.
Although sheep are generally not aggressive toward
people, but sometime cause injury.
Rams (male sheep), particularly the mating season may
attach with sufficient force to cause serious leg or back
injury.
The sheep they have the eyes at side of their heads and
can almost see behind themselves without turning the
heads.
Here are some common factors that tend to incite or
arouse sheep:
•Visual isolation from other sheep.
•Proximity dogs or people.
•Hunger or thirst.
•Sexual activity.
•New environments.
• High illumination as in covered yard
•Unusual loud or highly frequency sounds.
 GOAT
Regular handling dairy goats are often very friend,
the exceptions are the male, although rarely
unfriendly, their strong almost overpowering smell
makes them unattractive animals to handle and as
result they are often handled badly.
Usually when handler enter the pen, if necessary
pretend to carry out some task to attract their
attention, they will almost certainly crowd around,
and then it is a simply matter to do one person.
Although goats are very inquisitive(curious) , they are
also cunning(clever) and soon learn when the handler is
trying to catch one of them, so care should be taken to
avoid a time-wasting chase.
Once goat are caught they can be restrained by a firm hold
around the neck at the base of the skull, a collar should
then be used.
The goat are naturally followers , a lot of time can be
saved if goats are taught to recognize a food bucked or
bag, they will usually follow a handler into a pen if they
think they are going to be fed.
 POULTRY
when catching the birds smoothly style of movement is
essential a sudden movement will cause to take avoiding
action, and them they are almost impossible to catch.
Such action can result injury from fleeing ,running into
corners and in addition of reduction in egg production.
Older chickens can be caught by grasping the body with
both hands over the wings with comfortable keeping not
loose holding, this will prevents flapping which could
cause injury to the bird and alarm the other birds in the
flock.
The ideal approach is not always possible and may have
to resort to catching the chicken by the legs, both legs
can be grasped with one hand.
 Transmittable Diseases
All animals, domesticated or wild, can be sources of
human illness and parasitic infection.
Diseases that can be transmitted from animals to
humans are known as zoonoses.
Infections may result from direct or indirect contact
with diseased animals, their manure, their urine, and
their bedding, or through animal products (milk, meat,
hides, hair).
Infection may take the form of intestinal diseases,
respiratory disorders, general ill health, or skin rashes
 APPROACHING ANIMALS:
When approaching an animal in a shed, stall, or
paddock, always speak to it before touching.
Approach the animal from the left side and handle
from the head or near the head (beware of the horns of
cattle and buffalo).
It is not advisable to carry a stick, but if no is
needed it should be kept out of sight of the animal.
Get some information about the animals from its
attendant or owner whether animal is calm or
aggressive.
Treat strange animals with suspicion, but try not to
let the animal know that you are afraid of it.
If you required use two ropes on the head collar and tie
one to each pillar ring ,(Two ropes are especially needed
when working with stallions or bulls).
Never handle the hindquarters or hind legs without
having the animal’s head held and forelegs lifted or
restrained.
It is important never to make a sudden snatch at the
animal’s head collar, this alarm the animal may make it
suspicious on future occasion.
Keep in the mind that some animals kick backwards,
some forwards and others laterally with their hind legs,
some cattle can kick all three ways.