Cattle Handling and Restraint

chapter 4

True or false: an understanding of cattle behavior is critical to proper and successful handling

true

misunderstandings of cattle behavior leads to what?

stressed animals, stressed people, injured people, injured animals, lost animals, and lost production time

True or false: breed, sex, and age can play a role in temperament and attitude

true

What breeds are less likely to cause injury and are more docile?

European

What are the most docile of the European breeds?

Herefords

What are points to consider when handling?

average size, speed, strength, and escape behavior (fight or flight)

Careful, quiet handling improves what?

both productivity and animal welfare

Research shows that cattle that become agitated during handling will have what?

lower weight gains and tougher meat

Cattle settle down and return to feed more quickly after what?

quiet handling

You should avoid handling in what kind of temperatures?

extreme

When animals become agitated during handling, it is usually a result of what?

fear

What is a strong stressor?

fear

True or false: reducing fear eases handling

true

Many studies show fear decreases what in livestock?

production

True or false: because grazing animals are prey animals, there behavior is fear motivated which causes them to escape from perceived danger

true

What is the number one cause of accidents and injury during handling and restraint?

fear based behavior

What are dangerous behaviors?

kicking, charging, and biting

What can be caused by fear or aggression?

dangerous behaviors

True or false: punishing fearful behavior usually makes it worse

true

What improves welfare and makes handling easier?

reducing fear

How long does it take for heart rate to return to normal after fear and agitation?

about 20 minutes

What is easier if short time is given to adapt to corral and calm?

handling

Why are fearful animals difficult to separate?

they are bunched together

public opinion definitely favors what?

animal welfare

True or false: grazing animals can discriminate some colors, but are partially color blind, have better night vision, a better ability to sense motion, and sensitive to high contrast in color

true

Grazing animals are sensitive to a high contrast in colors. This includes what

shadows and changing in flooring

Grazing animals better ability to sense motion means that they are?

easily spooked by movements

What can have a large impact on ease of handling and welfare?

system design

How do animals move through well designed systems?

quickly and quitely

When are animals are often “abused”?

when they balk trying to move through poorly designed systems

cattle hearing is similar to humans except for what?

sensitivity to higher pitch

True or false: high pitched sounds are alarm sounds in the wild

true

True or false: higher pitch causes increased heart rate in pigs

true

You should avoid using aversion restraint methods which include what?

whips, hot shots, nose tongs, etc

What are good things to use when restraining cattle?

halter and chute (skill and practice)

True or false: sick cattle can become more aggressive (ketosis, anaplasmosis, inability to escape)

true

Is it easier to work cattle alone or in groups?

groups

True or false: it’s easier to sort off animals you don’t want

true

The following describes what?

• should only be wide enough for one animal

• length of alley is important

• visible light at end of alley

• solid walls in alley… especially if workers/cattle lack experience

cattle chute alleyways

What are good tools to help extend your arm?

prods, canes, sorting paddles, whips, flags, and hot shot

When using a halter, how far away should the cow be?

arms length

If haltering in head catch, where should you stand?

off to the side

What are nose tongs are used for?

to stabilize head

What is tailing/jacking called?

tail restraint

Tail restraint is good when?

for short procedures and castration

How do you restrain the tail?

grasp tail 1/3 of the way from tailhead, push straight up and forward, and keep tail on midline

True or false: a physical exam is not just for vets

true

What does a physical exam include?

visual observation, palpation, auscultation, and percussion

What is the most valuable diagnostic tool available?

physical exam

True or false: you must be thorough and exam every inch of exam for a physical exam

true

Will you miss more in a physical exam by not looking or not knowing?

not looking

Major and minor problems can be detected without what?

expensive medical equipment

Where should you record all findings?

medical record

What are the 5 components of a physical exam?

herd health, signalment/history, general appearance/initial observations, vital signs, and complete physical exam

What is helpful with individual animals physical exams?

overall herd health

Health is typically a herd problem. This includes what

management, nutrition, parasite control, and vaccination program

What is included in a complete description of the animal (signalment)?

species, breed, age, reproductive status (intact), and animal AD (tag/tattoo)

What are important components in animal health history?

herd history, environment, past medical history, vaccination status, current medications, and chief problem or complaint

When performing a physical exam, you should notice the position in relation to what?

the herd

You should insure you have proper restraint before performing exam including what

making your presence known and gently pet/touch animal

What does BAR stand for?

bright, alert, responsive

Determining if the animal is BAR, excitable, active and playful, depressed and inactive, or aggressive is part of what?

mentation

Hydration is expressed as a percentage of what?

body weight (0-15%)

What is the first sign of dehydration?

loss of skin elasticity (skin turgor)

What are signs of dehydration?

skin turgor, dry mucous membranes (sticky), and sunken eyes

What is the ideal BCS for beef cows?

5

What is the BCS scale range for beef cattle?

1-9

What is the BCS scale range for dairy cattle?

1-5

True or false: ½ scores are possible for dairy cow BCS

true

What BCS is thin, with extreme emaciation, no detectable fat over bony protuberances, tailhead and ribs are prominent ,and animal is often weak or dead?

1

What BCS is thin and poor with the cow somewhat emaciated with less prominent bony protuberances and some tissue cover along spine?

2

What BCS is thin with the ribs individually identifiable but less sharp and some fat along spine and over tailhead and some tissue cover over the dorsal aspect of the ribs?

3

What BCS is borderline with individual ribs no longer visually obvious and spinous processes individually palpable, although rounded. Some far cover over ribs, transverse processes and around tailhead?

4

What BCS is moderate and has a generally good appearance with the fat over the ribs is spongy and areas lateral to tailhead has fat cover?

5

What BCS is high moderate and firm pressure is needed to feel spinous processes where the fat is observable and palpable over ribs and around tailhead?

6

What BCS is the cow appears fleshy and obviously carries considerable fat that is very spongy and covers ribs and around tailhead with rounds or pones beginning to become obvious with fat also appearing around vulva?

7

What BCS is the cow very fleshy and unconditioned with spinous processes almost impossible to palpate and large fat deposits over ribs around tailhead and below vulva and rounds and pones are obivious?

8

What BCS is extremely fat and cow is obviously extremely waisty and patchy and has a block-like appearance with the tailheads and hips buried in fatty tissue and round and pones of fat are protruding and bone structures are not visible and barley palpable and mobility may be impaired?

9

What BCS are rare to see

1 and 9

Body weight is useful information that tracks what?

progress

What does MM stand for?

mucous membrane color

What vital sign is an indication of blood flow to peripheral tissues with abnormal colors indicative of disease?

mucous membrane color

What does CRT stand for?

capillary refill time

What reflects perfusion of peripheral tissues and is measured by pressing on the gums which should blanch white and return pink?

capillary refill time

What is a normal capillary refill time?

<2 seconds

What does prolonged CRT indicate?

compromised circulation due to cold, shock, cardiovascular disease, or anemia

What does a pink mucous membrane indicate?

normal

What does a white mucous membrane indicate?

anemia

What does a yellow mucous membrane indicate?

jaundice

What does a sticky mucous membrane indicate?

dehydrated

What is the act of swelling and becoming large by pressure from inside?

distension

What are the normal time for contractions when auscultating rumen sounds?

1-2 contractions per minute

What is it called when there is more activity than normal in the rumen?

hypermotile

What is it called when there is less activity than normal in the rumen?

hypomotile

What does a high pitched ping (like thumping an overblown up basketball) mean when thumping the rumen?

there’s something under there under a lot of pressure

Where is the heart located in ruminants?

behind the left elbow

What are the different kinds of medication techniques?

oral medication, intramuscular injections, intravenous injections, subcutaneous injections, and intramammary infusions

The following are used for what type of medication technique?

• balling gun

• drenching

• frick speculum

• rumen intubation

oral medication

The following describes the steps for what?

• restrain cow

• stand to side and hold head and neck up

• insert gun into interdental space

• advance gun past curve of tongue

• eject pill/bolus

how to use a balling gun

The following describes the steps for what?

• insert frick speculum

• pass into neck region

  • make sure its in esophagus and not trachea

• advance to stomach

how to use an orogastric intubation