Skills and risk of injury: Good cattle handling is a skill which gets a job done safely, humanely, and quickly. Most cattle handling can be done with out physical exertion. It is best done with ingenuity and patience - not by force. By understanding the behaviour of cattle, actions can be predicted and thus directed to give the required response.
Cattle can cause injury to handlers in a variety of ways. At up to 800 Kg as an adult, a bull's weight is sufficient to knock down, trample, or crush a against wall or fence, either intentionally or accidentally. Bruised or broken toes may result from trampling by cattle unless protective foot wear is worn. Cattle and buffaloes use their heads to attack and to defend themselves. If horned, they can inflict severe damage when they attack with the head. A quick thrust sideways or forward can be fatal. They can butt with with great force and inflict injury even when polled or dehorned. Dairy bulls are particularly dangerous. Cattle/buffaloes usually kick with one hind leg at a time in a forward, outward, or backward movement, and so can stricke someone standing at their shoulder. Cows are particularly protective in the first day or two after calving and may attack anyone approaching their calves. Tail switching can cause injury to unprotected eyes if they are struck by the long hairs at the end of the tail.
Welfare: The welfare of animals is very important. It is our obligation to maintain their well-being. The whole handling procedure is easier when animals are relaxed. People with dairy farm experience generally accept that dairy cows are easier to handle when they are comfortable, that is, when they are clean, dry, and away from drafts.
Animals should be kept calm so that they move and stand quietly. Cattle should be allowed to settle down for 20 minutes or so after yarding. Control of arousal is fundamental in controlling the movement of animals. Handling, by its very nature, stimulates animals and raises their excitement level. Humped cattle have a reputation for being more difficult to handle in yards. It should be kept in mind that an animal's response to a stimulus depends not only on the type and intensity of the stimulus but also on the unique temperament of the animal.
Social Behaviour: Cattle and buffaloes are social animals, forming attachments and living naturally in groups. When a group is being formed or added to, there are usually conflicts among animals which are expressed by fighting, withdrawing, appeasing, etc. In this way two animals sort out which one has priority of access to something desirable like a patck of grass or a good place to lie down. This establishes a social herarchy which works for the befit of the herd. The struggle for dominance is especially noticeable in the case of cattle. When a social heirarchy is set up in a herd of cattle, it usually lasts for a long time.
When an animal is taken out of the group for more than a day, there is usually considerable antagonism shown towards this animals from the others when it returns. This can result in a drop in milk production in cows or physical damage among bulls. The animal should, therefore, be returned as soon as possible. If the animal has been away for more than a day, it is better to return it when the other animals in the group are engaged in some activity and too distracted to get involved in a fight. Fighting among cattle, particularly bulls, occurs when familiar and unfamiliar animals are mixed together in a group. The increased muscle activity results in elevaated pH of carcasses and dark, firm, dry meat.
Psychological behaviour: Early experiences can have a lasting impact on cattle and buffaloes, so it is especially important to exercise care and caution when handling an animal for the first time. One bad handling experience may be remembered by the animal for as long as three years. If cattle are handled gently from youth, they will be much easier to handle later, for example, when being loaded into a vehicle for transportation. If an animal has been handled badly when driven into yard, for example, it will be much more difficult to get it back into that area again. A handling system must be well established from the outset and made to work the first time.
From an early age, animals should be trained to accept and expect a daily routine. Cattle readily learn to accept routine, and routine makes dairy milking and handling much easier and productive. Animals even become so used to routine that small changes in their environment, such as a change of milker, can create excitement and result in a pronounced drop in productivity.
Handler characteristics: The attitude of the handler is very important. Impatient handling may cause injury and affect production dairy cows. A confident milker usually obtains higher yields. It is commonly believed that animals can detect a handler's lack of confidence. Handlers who are unsure of themselves certainly do not have good control over animals and so fail to get the desired responses from them. A new handler should therefore learn proper techniques from the start and keep practising them regularly.
Handling animals with minimum disturbance also increases the opportunity for heat detection the dairy herd. The animals' response to the stimulation of handling may point to certain conditions such as hypomagnesaemia or lameness.
