The behaviour and movement of cattle through forcing yards.

Abstract

Animal Production in Australia Vol. 15 THE BEHAVIOUR AND MOVEMENT OF CATTLE THROUGH FORCING YARDS W.J. VOWLES*, G.A. ELDRIDGE and T.J. HOLLIER Vowles and Hollier (1982) found that significant improvements in handling times were possible with a cattle handling system incorporating curved races, 360 forcing yards and a teardrop holding yard when compared with yards of traditional design. It was not clear how design and construction of components effected the efficiency of the overall system. Groups of naive cattle were used in three experiments to study the effect of force yard construction (solid, board and pipe fence panels) and the direction of entry into the force yard (Fig. 1) on the behaviour and movement of the cattle through the force yard. In Experiments 1 and 2, three replicates of three groups of 19 Angus heifers were used to study these factors separately, while in ,Experiment 3 , twenty seven groups of 17 Hereford horned steers (2 reps.) and hornless heifers (1 rep.) were used in a 3 x 3 factorial experiment. The groups of cattle were encouraged to move by a handler operating in a standard manner. The movements were recorded on video tape from which data was taken for analysis. Fig. 1 Plan of force yard indicating the directions of entry Side entry A Table 1 Side entry B Movement times (set) of cattle through a forcing yard varying in cladding material and direction of entry not in Experiment 3. In Experiment 3, the solid (P < 0.05) and pipe (P < treatments in Experiment The that the eg. fast treatment Experiment 2, the type of cladding had no effect, but in cladding treatment was significantly faster than boards 0.01). There were no significant interactions between 3. contrasting effect of treatment between the different experiments suggests forcing yard design requirements may vary with the type and class of stock moving or horned animals. The slower movement observed in the rear entry (Exp. 1) appeared to result from animals turning to see the handler. VOWLES, W.J. and HOLLIER, T.J. (1982). Proc. Aust. Soc. Anim. Prod. 14 : 598. - -- - ----.--- - - - _ ---- - -- - -~- * Department of Agriculture, Bendigo, Victoria 3550. T Animal Research Institute, Department of Agricult:!re, Werribee, Victoria 3030. 766