1. Livestock Behavior
and Handling
6th Edition
Temple Grandin
Department of Animal Sciences
Colorado State University

2. Calm animals are easier to handle than
excited fearful animals
Twenty to thirty minutes is required for an
animal excited animal to calm down

4. Little distractions that people do
not notice will cause balking

5. A calm
animal will
look at the
distraction

6. Distractions That Cause
Balking and Refusal to Move
Shadows and high contrasts of light and dark
Reflections on metal or water
Seeing people up ahead
Moving objects
Air blowing in their faces
Coat hung on fence

7. Non-Slip Flooring is Essential
Steer coming out of
squeeze chute
! Animals get
agitated when
they slip
! Squeeze chutes,
stocks, scales,
unloading ramps

8. Tie up loose chain ends
that scare animals

9. 1. Shadows and high contrasts of
light and dark
2. Reflections on metal or water
3. Seeing people up ahead
4. Moving objects
5. Air blowing in their faces
Distractions That
Cause Balking

10. A change in
flooring or a
drain may retard
movement
Allow the leader
time to investigate

11. Cattle may turn
back when they see
the windmill

12. Moving high contrast yellow ribbon
may stop an animal’s movement
Windy days will have
more flapping
objects that scare

13. Reflections
scare
animals

15. Rapid movement makes the dog chase
and it makes grazing animals run away

16. The slow, steady fluid motion of
this remote-controlled camera is
ignored by the cattle

17. Remote control rope on backstop gate
facilitates cattle entry into chute

18. Cattle can see people
through the open sides
To find distractions→ get in the chute to
see it the from animal’s point of view

19. Solid fences
keep animals
calmer
Solid fences are
especially
important for
animals with a
large flight zone

20. Solid Outer Fence
Open Inner Fence
People must stay outside the flight
zone unless moving animals

21. Well designed crowd pen with
solid sides and solid gate

22. Herding animal’s
behavior is controlled
by vision
An opaque curtain will
contain them

23. Animals are
spooked by
distractions
outside this pen.
Make sure vertical
gate provides
sufficient back
clearance.

24. Cattle
movement
improved after
solid sides
were installed

25. Solid sides are really important
for wild, flighty animals

26. Shadows may
impede
movement
Sunny days are
the worst

27. Cattle may refuse to enter
a dark building

28. Opening a door to let in light
attracts the cattle towards it

29. Well designed white translucent
skylights admit shadow free light

30. Skylights installed in the walls will improve
cattle movement into an existing dark building

31. Cattle enter more easily when
they can see through the barn

32. Chute entrance headed
towards the light
Credit: Dodge Mfg.

33. Animals may
refuse to move
into the sun

34. Yelling and loud noise is highly stressful
Animals with excitable genetics
are the most sensitive

35. One ear on the man and
one ear on the lady

36. Animals also “watch” with their
ears for potential danger
The horse has
an ear pointed
at both the
photographer
and the zebra

37. The Flight Zone Is The Animal’s Safety Zone
Calm animals
will have a
smaller
flight zone
Tame animals
will have no
flight zone
and

38. The handler is outside the flight zone
when animals face the person

39. Animals turn away when the
handler enters the flight zone

40. Handlers should learn the principle of
pressure and release on the flight zone

41. Point of Balance Principles
! It is at the shoulder when the handler is close to
cattle in chutes.
! It is usually just past the eye when the handler is
further away.
! To make an animal move forward, the handler
must be behind the point of balance.

42. If an animal rears, back up
and get out of its flight zone

43. The size of the flight zone will vary
depending upon genetics and
previous experience
Animals want to see you

44. If the handler gets too close, the
animals will turn back
The handler
should back
away

45. Dogs around the chutes stress cattle
because they cannot move away.
They may also teach cattle to kick

46. The flight zone becomes smaller when
the person does not stare at the animal

47. The flight zone becomes bigger when a
person makes themselves big

48. The handler is positioned behind the point of
balance at the shoulder to move the horse forward

49. Cattle naturally walk in single file
Credit: Susan Church

52. Cattle and pigs should
be moved in small
groups
Sheep can be moved
in larger groups

53. The crowd pen should be filled
half full with cattle or pigs

54. Crowd gate used correctly and
the animals have room to turn

55. Sheep Handling is a
Continuous Flow

56. Curved systems work better than straight
ones because animals will turn back in the
same direction they came from

57. Use a flag to move livestock

58. A flag can be used to turn an animal by
blocking the animal’s vision on one side

59. Paddle stick and small
flag for moving animals

60. Witch’s Cape for Moving Pigs

61. Beware of the lone animal
It is often the most dangerous animal

62. Animals will stay calmer
if they have a companion

64. Animals reared alone are more likely
to attack either people or other animals

65. Grazing
animals
become
imprinted to
the mother
that raised
them

66. People should be the leader
of the pack with dogs
Grazing animals should be reared and housed with
their own kind so that bulls will direct aggression
towards other bulls instead of people

67. Handle the dominant animal first
Use only natural animal behavior
patterns to exert dominance

68. Bird mating rituals are
instinctual and hardwired

69. Grooming behavior in the horse is an
example of a hardwired instinctual behavior

70. Fence breaking is a learned behavior

71. Do Animals Have
Cognition and Thinking?
Cognition is the ability to solve
problem under novel new conditions
Marlan Stamp Dawkins,1993

72. Cognition is NOT:
Operant or Classical conditioning
Hard wired instinctual behavior

73. Kacelink et al., 2002, Science
TRUE COGNITION
A crow bends a wire to make a hook to obtain food

74. TRUE COGNITION
A blue jay hides his food in a different
compartment when another bird is watching
Emory and Clayton, 2001, Nature 414:443

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