Handling Cattle, Pigs, and Sheep at Meat Plants

Flashcards testing key vocabulary, concepts, and diagrams from Temple Grandin's guide on handling cattle, pigs, and sheep at meat plants.

Panoramic Vision (Cattle)

The wide field of view surrounding cattle in which they have no depth perception.

Binocular Field (Cattle)

The small shaded area directly in front of a cattle's head (spanning $25$ to $50$ degrees) where the animal possesses depth perception.

Flight Zone

The animal's safety zone; entering this area causes animals to move away. Calm animals have a smaller flight zone, while tame animals have none.

Pressure Zone

The zone surrounding the flight zone where livestock will turn and face a person.

Point of Balance

A location at the shoulder (when close in chutes) or just past the eye (when farther away); handlers must pass behind this point to move an animal forward.

Handler Movement Pattern for Squeeze Chute Entry

A method where the handler walks in the opposite direction alongside a single-file race, passing each animal's point of balance at the shoulder to keep cattle moving forward.

Crowd Pen Capacity Recommendation

The practice of filling crowd pens only half full with cattle or pigs to give animals sufficient room to turn.

Witch's Cape

A physical visual barrier tool used by handlers to guide and move pigs.

Crowd Pen Entrance Angle

A $30^\bullet$ angle layout designed for cattle and sheep crowd pen entrances to prevent animals from jamming together.

Offset Step (Pig Facility Design)

A right-side layout feature designed to prevent pigs from jamming together, superior to a standard funnel shape.

Lameness Score 1

Normal gait for groups of animals unloading at an abattoir.

Lameness Score 2

An obvious limp in an animal that still keeps up with the walking group.

Lameness Score 3

An obvious limp in an animal that lags behind the walking group.

Lameness Score 4

Severe lameness in an animal classifying it as almost a downer.