Happy handling of curious cattle

FARMERS at this year's Beef Expo at Hexham market tomorrow will be told they should change their cattle handling systems to capitalise on the natural curiosity of their animals.

Speaking before the event, Miriam Parker, the UK's leading expert on animal handling and behaviour, said: "Any form of handling or restraint is completely unnatural for animals.

"It is important to understand and exploit their basic behaviour and manage the cattle in the system, for example, by controlling group size and waiting times.

"Cattle are naturally curious so the most efficient systems pull the animals through them either because they are attracted to something or they can see a clear way out."

Parker, who started life as a stock person, has travelled the world to see animal handling systems in all the major cattle producing countries. She said every farm needed a cattle handling system that was "safe, simple, efficient and effective to operate so that handling is a positive event for both the stockperson and the cattle".

At Beef Expo, Parker will help farmers troubleshoot their existing systems and provide tips on designing something new.

She emphasized, the efficient movement of cattle was not just about getting the hardware right. There are basic principles of good design that apply to all systems and all budgets whether based on circular or straight layouts and irrespective of herd size. Producers will be encouraged to walk through a system as if they were the cattle so that they can see the system from the animals' point of view.