Handling

  1. Calm animals will move more easily than agitated, excited animals.
  2. People should not whistle and yell. High-pitched sounds from people yelling agitates the animals. Remain calm and use the animals´ natural behavior plus well-designed equipment to do what you want. People should not whistle or yell
  3. Animals will move better from dark to light places- be sure to illuminate areas you want them to move to (but DO NOT position the light so it shines in their eyes). Animals will balk at a dark entrance.
  4. If animals balk at a reflection on the floor of a chute, try moving the ceiling lights off the centerline of the chute. Moving a light will often eliminate a reflection. You can also experiment with covering a light.
  5. A plastic wastebasket liner on a stick works well for turning cattle in the crowd pen. Be careful with this driving aid and do not aggressively wave it. Use it to quietly guide cattle. Often very small movements of the stick will turn or move the animals.
  6. Electric prods should not be constantly carried by handlers and bad handling techniques like twisting their tails, poking their eyes and hitting sensitive spots should NEVER be tolerated.
  7. A flag, paddle stick, plastic bag, or vibrating prod should be the primary tool for moving animals. Flags made from a 30 inch by 30 inch (76 cm by 76 cm) square of light, plasticized tarp cloth are good.Flag_photos_by_Temple_Grandin (3)Flag_photos_by_Temple_Grandin (2)
  8. A vibrating prod can be made from a pneumatic powered engraving tool mounted in a handle. The sharp tip has to be removed. When it is properly constructed, it creates an intense vibration that does not hurt a person’s arm.
  9. Never grab or hoist sheep upwards by the wool, nor drag them by the leg to make them move forward. The drawings show correct handling technique of sheep. Equally, you can train one sheep to enter the trucks arriving with new sheep so that the new sheep follow the trained sheep out. how2carrysheep1how2carrysheep2The photos below show what consequence grabbing sheep by their wool has on animal welfare and meat quality. how2carrysheep3sheep_carcass_bruises
  10. Delegate one of your best employees to become Animal Welfare Officer. This is something already done in EU slaughterhouses and has had a very positive effect. Give them extra training in welfare and make them in charge of not only checking the welfare of your slaughterhouse is up to date, but also challenge making it always better and better.