Patience pays off

Rob Abbott of Mt William Charolais stud, Willaura (pictured) has changed his approach to dealing with livestock as a result of a progressive stock handling course facilitated by Nick Kentish, South Australia.

Mr Abbott said his attitude now focused on understanding the way animals think and then working with them, not against them.

“The idea is similar to working a horse, you are working cattle by making them think, making them sweat, listen and respond to your body language, by doing that you are mentally stimulating them to do what you want without force,” he said.

Weaning has affirmed the handling approach with the Mt William calves stress levels reduced significantly, while immediate weight gains had also been noted.

Mr Abbott said he'd radically changed the way he handled stock after doing a progressive stock handling course, facilitated by Nic Kentish, of South Australia.

The program has been adopted by major seed stock producers and pastoralists across the country – and encourages farmers to complete more stock work on foot and undertake low stress yard work.

Mr Abbott said the theory was to mentally stimulate livestock through daily exercises, which led to more forward thinking stock that required less labour.

He said an important concept of the program was understanding "flight zones", which he explained was the area that if infiltrated (by a person, vehicle or dog) could trigger a reaction in livestock.

"A little bit of patience can be a real skill – working animals effectively and well can be learned," he said.

"The low stress course allows you to quieten, control and get stock in the right mind in order to create cooperation.

"Handling any animal, a horse or a bull in a bad way can potentially stir it up whereas an animal that has a flight tendency and an edge to it, if it is handled correctly, can be managed well and do what it is supposed to do."

He said it was possible to reduce an animal's flight zone without frightening them by using calmer handling techniques.

"We used to halter tie up to 90 bulls each January, it was fraught with danger and a massive job," he said.

"We've stopped doing that since the course because we realise that the stress on them and the labour is not worth it, good handling is more worthwhile."

Mr Abbott said despite only implementing the new techniques in the past six months, the results had been spectacular and had strengthened the bottom line through decreased labour and increased productivity.

"Rather than having three people in the cattle yards during pregnancy testing or weaning you can virtually do it on your own because the cattle have learnt how to work with you," he said.

"It has helped with the sheep in a big way too.

"Labour is low for what we are doing and it improves the efficiency. People say that having a good dog is like having another man, having this stock handing knowledge is a real help to your labour because it is like having an extra hand."

Staff from Te Mania Angus and Weeran Angus also undertook the course.

"You are not reinventing the wheel – it is not about hounding the animals and chasing them it is about making them flow by applying the pressure through the position of your body," Weeran Angus principal Alec Moore said.

"It is about knowing why and how an animal reacts to pressure applied by you or your dogs, and knowing how to position yourself as well as how it will react and where it will move."