MEAT+POULTRY - April 2015 - 74

FROM THE CORRAL

Handling keeps

Photo by Rosalie Winard

Compared to years ago, handling of cattle and pigs has
really improved. Everybody knows that an electric prod
should never be used as a person's primary driving tool
and that yelling at livestock causes stress. However, there
is still room for improvement.
The secret to smooth animal movement is to time
when the next small bunch of pigs or cattle are brought
up to the crowd pen to take
advantage of natural following
behavior. Handlers should be
trained to wait until the single-file
chute is partially empty before
bringing the next bunch into
the crowd pen. This enables the
animals to immediately pass
through the crowd pen and enter
the single-file chute without
stopping.
To explain it simply, the
crowd pen should be used as a
"passing-through" pen. If the next
bunch is brought up when the
Fine-tuning
single-file chute is full, the animals
animal
will have to stop and wait. When
handling will
they have to wait, they will often
take some time turn around. People are often
to learn, but it reluctant to time bunches because
they are afraid they will let the
will be worth it. line run out of animals. When this
method is used, there will be a
learning curve and there may be skips in the line until the
handlers figure out the perfect timing. I have seen timing
of bunches used for both cattle and pigs in both large and
medium-sized plants. After the handlers learn how to do it,
animal movement occurs much more smoothly.

GOOD HANDLING MEANS MORE WALKING
Good animal handling for both cattle and pigs will require
more walking to bring up small numbers of animals. The
small bunches should fill the crowd pen that leads to the
single-file chute only half full. If your chute has a one-way
backstop gate at its entrance, the animals will enter more
easily if the gate is opened BEFORE the next bunch enters

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MEAT+ POULTRY | 04.15 | www.meatpoultry.com

improving
the crowd pen. Forcing cattle or pigs to all push through
a backstop may cause balking or turning back. Equipping
the backstop with a remote-control rope will make it
easy for the handlers to hold it open for the approaching
animals. When timing of bunches and low-stress handling
methods are perfected, handlers will learn that often many
one-way backstops can simply be tied open.
In a round crowd pen that is equipped with a crowd
gate, the handlers should NEVER push the crowd gate
up tight against the animals. Often the crowd gate can be
latched in the initial position and not used to make the pen
smaller. Attempting to push animals with a crowd pen gate
is poor technique.
Handlers moving animals in a single-file chute must
avoid the bad practice of standing at the head of the
animal and poking its butt with a paddle or flag. This
gives the animal conflicting signals to move forward and
backward at the same time. A better method to move an
animal forward in a chute is to quickly walk past the point
of balance at the shoulder in the opposite direction of
desired movement. This sounds really counter intuitive
but it really works. When the handler quickly walks past
the shoulder, the animal will move forward.
Fine-tuning animal handling will take some time to
learn, but it will be worth it.

INTERNATIONAL LIVESTOCK FORUM
Meanwhile, the International Livestock Forum was held
for the first time at Colorado State Univ. in January. Don
Butler, head of regulatory affairs of Smithfield Foods,
told the audience, "We supply what customers want." A
survey done in North Carolina showed that 23 percent of
US consumers will buy the cheapest pork. China is a huge
customer and they want ractopamine-free pork. China
will never buy pork fed ractopamine, according to Butler.
During the Q&A period, Butler explained that "the use of
ractopamine is not as important to us as we thought five
years ago."
He further explained that in order to satisfy the
customers who want sows in loose housing, 71 percent of
Smithfield's US-owned farms have been converted from
gestation stalls to loose housing. Butler stated that there
were no differences in productivity injuries or lameness.
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MEAT+POULTRY - April 2015

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