Are your animals happy?

Chronic stress on farm animals can have deleterious effects on their health, productivity and welfare.
With some small changes we may be able to reduce the stress of our animals. Can these recommendations help you?

1. Extra Contact with People
Animals can be fearful of people if they do not have sufficient exposure to people when young. Large scale farms may result in less contact between people and dairy heifers

2. Identifying Which Types of Handling Are Aversive
Examples of rough handling practices that increase fearfulness and restlessness in livestock include shouting, slapping, punching, hitting with the hand or stick, tail twisting and use of an electric prod

3. Avoiding "Learned Fear" of the Stockperson
Studies have shown that under some circumstances a loss of recognition can occur following simple changes in the appearance of people, such as a change of clothes by wearing special colored clothes when essential but aversive treatments are applied to animals.

4. Altering Stockpersons' Attitudes
The way people handle animals is likely to be a reflection of long held beliefs about how animals need to be handled and attitudes towards animals in general. Efforts to alter these beliefs, through educational programs showing the negative effects of poor handling on the fearfulness and productivity of animals,

5. Identifying Why People Mishandle Animals
Difficulty in moving cattle, time pressures, equipment not working properly, low job satisfaction, and family problems are things cause angry people transfer they stress to their animals.