Cattle Whispering

Magic or Instinct?

Lets start at the beginning

• Hi my name is Emma Kay, and I am currently completing

Certificate 11 in agriculture as part of my HSC and traineeship.

• During my first year of TAFE I have to complete many topics

including fencing, assistance in calving, identifying and treating

weeds and caring for livestock.

• My favorite topic was Handling Livestock.

• My presentation will show you the keys to success in handling

livestock.

Cattle breeds

• Firstly we were introduced to the cattle breeds.

• The breeds in Australia fit into the following categories:

1. Bos Taurus - these breeds originated in Europe.

2. Bos Indicus - these breeds originated in Asia.

Bos Taurus Bos Indicus

Dairy breeds• World wide there are 11 dairy breeds. We have 7 in Australia.

Illawarra

Ayrshire

Guernsey

Holstein

Jersey

Brown SwissAussie Red

Identify stock by age groups

Calf

New born female or male

Bull

Cattle

Calf 12 months over

Yearling Springer

Pregnant bovine in the period from 3

weeks to calving

Cow

Female bovine who has had a calf

Bovine

Male bovine

Mustering Organisation

A number of factors need to be taken into account when planning to muster

(i.e. bring together into a mob) stock, to ensure success.

• Number of stock in paddock.

• Condition of stock.

• Type of stock.

• Paddock types.

• Time of day.

• Weather.

Looking at type of stock - cows and calves need to be handled with great care, if they are separated they get stressed and are hard to deal with so it is important to give them time to find each other and regroup.

Understanding cattle

• Cattle have almost 360 degree panoramic vision. So its hard to approach them without them knowing.

• Cattle usually face the handler when approached.

• However they have a narrow binocular field but can discriminate most colours.

• This means they tend to baulk at shadows or bright spots and aren't keen to move towards dark areas.

Hints for the stock person

• Watch what is going on around you.

• Have a plan.

• Show enthusiasm and pride in your work.

• Harmonise with fellow workers.

• Work as a team.

• Make sure you know the paddocks on the property.

• Report to team leader anything that seems unusual.

• If you don’t understand directions, ask again until it is clear.

Entering the paddock

• Be observant.

• Make sure you see the cattle before they see you.

• Don’t make unnecessary noise.

• When the cattle see you give them time to see where you are.

• Then move into position and be ready to move if they move.

• Always show stock water when putting them into a new paddock.

• When handling stock anticipate because prevention is better than

cure.

Learning from the experts

• Have you heard of “Cattle Whisperers”

• They do exist

• Let me tell you about Bud Williams and his

techniques

Cattle Whispering – Magic?

• Bud Williams – the Cattle Whisperer is a well known cattle handling expert from Alberta, Canada

• What Bud does has been called magic.

• But its not really magic - its interpreting animal behaviour and understanding the cause of behaviours & underlying motivations for them.

• Lets have a look at how it works Image: http://www.cartoonstock.com/

Basic InstinctAnimals have 3 basic instinctive behavioural patterns to help them

avoid predators.

They are:

1. The flight zone and the tendency to face people and other

perceived threats.

2. The point of balance at the shoulder and its effect on

movement direction.

3. The tendency to bunch together when they are threatened.

Source: www.grandin.com/B.Williams

1. FACE your FEAR

Turning and facing a

potential threat enables the

animal to keep track of

where the predator is.

Flight Zone

• Flight distance is an important concept in livestock handling. It

can be described as a circle of safety around an animal.

If handler stands

here animal will

retreat If handler stands

here animal will not

retreat

Knowing When & How • When a person penetrates the flight zone, the animal moves away. A good stock

handler knows when to penetrate this zone and when to retreat so that the cattle move quietly in the desired direction.

• Cattle move most effectively if they can see the handler at all times. Attempting to drive animals by standing directly behind them is often not efficient because they turn and look at the handler. A beast is best driven when the handler is situated at a 45–60° angle from a line perpendicular to an animal's shoulder. This same principle applies to driving mobs of cattle.

• The flight distance varies with the tameness of the animal. The distance may be up to 200–300m for feral cattle, but for feedlot cattle it may be only 1–5m. Very tame cattle are difficult to move because they no longer have a flight zone.

• If a handler shouts and excites cattle, this can enlarge the animals' flight zone.

2. Point of Balance Behaviour

• The point of balance behaviour pattern aids a grazing animal in

escaping

from a predator that is

chasing it.

• An impala chased by a lion will run In the opposite direction

when a lion passes it shoulder. This manoeuvre helps the

antelope to escape.

WALK DON’T RUN

• This same principle is also used to quietly move cattle both on

pastures and through cattle races.

• The main difference is that the cattle are moved at a WALK

instead of at a RUN.

• The animal will move FORWARD when a handler inside its

flight zone passes the shoulder going in the OPPOSITE

direction of desired movement.

Point of Balance cont..

• Looking from a side view, this means behind the shoulder.

Point of Balance cont..

• From the front, you can deflect cattle sideways by moving either

side of an imaginary line drawn through the middle of the

animal's length.

3. Safety in NumbersThe third behaviour pattern is the tendency of

cattle to bunch together when there is a threat.

• A handler using either the windshield wiper pattern or straight zig zag pattern can induce cattle to quietly bunch.

• The handler must NEVER circle the cattle.

• The windshield wiper pattern MUST be only a slight arc. This is much lower stress than chasing cattle and acting like an attacking predator.

• By mimicking the initial stalk of a predator the cattle will come together.

Stimulus-response relationship.

• the "stimulus" is a person who simulates predator "stalking

behaviour", which elicits predatory "avoidance behaviour" in the

cattle.

Stalking

The "stalking"

behaviour

simulated by

the person is

similar to the

behaviour of a

predator such

as a lion or a

wolf.

Predatory behaviour First, the predator

locates the herd. Then it

begins a slow survey of

the herd by walking in a

circular direction around

the herd looking for

weak or old animals.

The behaviour of the

predator circling the

herd causes anxiety in

the animals.

Hard wired behaviour

• The cattle become uneasy over an impending attack by the

predator and begin to loosely bunch together.

• This is an instinctual HARD WIRED behaviour that is wired into

the animal's brain.

• This uneasiness and slight anxiety comes before the fear and

flight elicited by an actual attack.

• When the method is first used it triggers instinctual bunching

behaviour.

• The more a person works with the cattle, the

calmer they become and instinctual bunching

behaviour is gradually replaced with calm

learned behaviour.

• The handIer moves at a normal walking

speed (as a stalking predator would) and

there should be no noise such as whistling,

yelling, or whip cracking.

• Handler movements must be steady and

deliberate with no sudden jerky movements

or arm waving.

So letsround ‘em up

cowgals

Step 1Gathering and Loose Bunching:

This is the most critical step.

• The majority of the herd must be loosely bunched before any attempt is made to move the herd. This is accomplished by applying very light pressure on the edge of the collective flight zone to induce the animals to move into a loose bunch.

• The handler should locate the majority of the herd and start making a series of wide back and forth movements on the edge of the herd. You should move in the pattern of a giant windshield wiper.

The arc of the zig zag

movement must not

exceed a quarter

circle.

DO NOT CIRCLE

AROUND the cattle.

The movement should

be straight or a very

slight arc.

• The handler can induce the rear animals to begin to move by giving them a "predatory" stare. This simulates the initial stalking behaviour of a predator sizing up the herd.

• The handler should keep continuously moving back and forth.

• If you stop moving and linger too long in one animals' blind spot it may turn back and look at you. The handler should continuously walk back and forth and move enough to the side that the lead animals can see him.

Stragglers will catch up

• Cattle that are off to one side of the pasture will be attracted as the herd moves into a loose bunch.

• Animals hidden in the bush will be drawn out because they seek the safety of the herd.

• Do not chase stragglers.

Step 2Initiating Movement:

When the majority of

the herd has come

together into a loose

bunch, increase

pressure on the

collective flight zone to

initiate movement in

the desired direction.

The “good” and the “bad”

• The handler continues the back and forth movements but presses closer to the herd to induce movement. This will cause the herd to move forward and begin to string out.

• Handlers need to differentiate between "good" and 'bad" movement of the cattle. When cattle have "good" movement, they can easily be driven in the desired direction. They will look like a group of animals walking to water or making some other voluntary group movement on a large pasture.

• In a large group of animals, "good" movement starts with one animal and additional animals will gradually follow.

• "Good" movement entices the other animals to follow, and bad movements prevents other animals from following in an orderly manner.

Anxiety not fear

• It is important to remember before attempting to use these

methods that it is anxiety that makes this technique work and

NOT fear.

VS

When it all goes pear shape

• when anxiety turns to fear – flight takes over

and we all know stampedes are not a pretty sight

Image: www.wyomingtalesandtrails.com/

Weeding out the bad

• There are two types of "bad" movement;

running, cutting back, and other panic induced movements,

animals stop moving as an orderly stream in the desired direction

• Good movement can be disrupted when the animals are

attempting to locate the handler's position. This is a natural

anti-predator behaviour of prey species. They want to know

where the predator is and what its intentions are.

Animals will turn and look at

a person or a dog that is

either in their blind spot

behind their rear or is out

side their flight zone.

Handlers should not

remain more than

momentarily in any individual

animal's blind spot.

Walking through the blind

spot will not cause a

bl

To make the group move pressure has to be applied to both

the collective flight zone and individual animals within the

moving herd. When an animal or a group responds to the

handler's pressure on the flight zone, the handlers must

IMMEDIATELY stop forward movement or change direction

of movement to relieve pressure. This rewards the animal for

moving in the desired direction and the animal is more likely

to continue that movement. When the desired movement

slows down, the handler must apply pressure again.

SQUEEZE /RELAX

Every time you are working your animals you are training them. You can train them to be easy to handle and have good movement or you can train them to be difficult and have bad movement.

Its your call.

Building Relationships

Step 3Controlling Movement

Direction: • Animals must all be walking

in the same direction before any attempt is made to change the direction of movement.

• When good movement is initiated, the handler can control the direction of movement by moving to the left to make the cattle turn right and visa versa.

To continue

movement in the

desired direction,

the handler

continues to zig-

zag back and forth

behind the

animals.

Summary

• Triggering the animal's natural bunching behaviour gets the herd together so that they can be moved.

• After the herd is bunched, the handler must use the principle of pressure and release to keep the herd moving in a controlled manner.

• When the herd starts to move in the desired direction, the handler should retreat and reduce pressure.

• When the herd slows down, pressure must be reapplied. To keep the herd moving in a controlled manner the handler continues to alternatively apply and release pressure.

Instinct becomes learned

• When these methods are first used they work because they trigger the animal's hard wired behaviour patterns that it uses to avoid predators. At first, a slight anxiety is produced, but if the handler is always calm, he/she can teach the cattle that they do not have to be anxious. At this point learning will take over and the handler will no longer have to rely solely on the animal's natural instincts.

• When cattle are moved on pasture, they can be taught that pressure on their collective flight zone will be relieved when they go where the handler wants them to go. A calm quiet handler can also teach his or her herd that they will never be pressured to the point of being frightened.

Take home message

• Every time you handle your cows you are training them.

• You can train them to be wild and stressed

OR

• you can train them to be calm and quiet.

• Start them young - train your calves so they can be handled many different ways, such as on foot or with vehicles such as four wheelers.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” Mahatma Gandhi

References & Acknowledgments

• NSW DPI Agfactswww.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/livestock/beef/husbandry/general/handling-cattle

• Temple Grandin — Livestock Psychology and Handling

www.grandin.com

• Cow Whisperer Graphics www.corrieweb.nl

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nowOoh!!!

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This is a special guest PowerPoint produced by

Emma Kayfor

Yallah TAFE student