NZ Sheep Husbandry - Lifting a sheep over a fence

By Dr Clive Dalton

Back industries
Many back injuries occur when handling sheep, especially when lifting a sheep over a fence.

This is often done to save time, rather than pushing the sheep to a gate when the pen is full. Or you may be in a paddock where there is no gate to drag the sheep to to put into the next paddock.

 Use these advice to minimise the risk of injury:

• Never try to lift a heavy sheep over a fence on your own. Get someone to lift the hind legs while you lift it’s front end.
• For a small sheep, lift it up backwards by holding it around the neck and by a front leg.

• Then grab both front legs, lean back to raise the sheep's back legs off the ground, and at the same time, use your knee to give it a heave up and over the fence.
  

• Your knee acts as a fulcrum to get some leverage and help reduce the weight of the lift.

Angora (Mohair) Goat Basics: Handling goats

Agriculture, animal husbandry, goats, Angora, Mohair, handling, behaviour, practical advice
By Dr Clive Dalton

Handling goats

Behaviour

• Goats are a vastly greater challenge to handle than sheep and the first thing you'll need to do is to heighten the yards to prevent jumping.
• Drafting horned bucks can be problems as they won't be able to get along races in yards. They soon learn to go sideways but it's a good idea to dehorn them, though the horns are often handy to hold them by.
• Goats vocalise (bleat or scream) when held and this can add a lot of stress to jobs like shearing and castrating kids.
• Goats are highly suspicious of new facilities so running them through yards before handling them is useful. They have a good memory and know all the escape spots so be vigilant.
• They will face up to dogs and attack much more than sheep will ever do.
• When they get too fearful, they'll lie down and sulk and you can have a smother or injuries as they pile on top of each other with sharp hooves.
  

Catching & holding goats

• Goats are agile and are often tricky to catch. It’s bad practice to grab Angora goats by the fleece as it’s painful (try pulling your hair), and it can damage the skin.
  
• Your best chance if goats are confined is to catch them around the neck to immobilise the head, and then hold their body against your knees or up against the side of the pen.
• If goats have room to move in a yard, then your best chance is to grab a hind leg and pull until you can get a hand around the neck, and again hold it against the pen side.
• If you don’t have a fence, then straddle the goat holding it around the neck, being careful not to be speared in the face by its horns if it rears. The horns are useful handles to hold it, but be prepared for them not to buck and try to get free.
• Bucks with large horns can be completely immobilised if you hold both horns firmly, as it allows you to have so much leverage on their heads.
• To hold a goat long-term, it’s best to turn it over and sit it on it’s backside. Goats don’t like this much, as they don’t have as much padding as sheep.
• To do this, grab the goat by the loose skin on the opposite side in front of the hind leg, pull up quickly, and be ready to set it down on it’s rump.
  

Yards

• Handling goats, even when they are well accustomed to humans, is too great a challenge without some kind of yards.
• The goats get more stressed and so to the handlers and jobs cannot be completed on time so frustration increases and the goats get the blame!
• Goats have good memories and are not keen to repeat bad experiences.
  

Good things about yards

• A good clear lead into the yards so they go in without baulking.
• On a slight slope so animals run uphill as they go through the yards.
• High enough so that they cannot jump out. Regularly handles Angoras should be able to be handled in sheep yards.
• Good drafting facilities so animals don’t have to be caught individually.
• Close-boarded sides in crush pen and drafting race with concrete floor.
• Road metal in other holding yards.
• Secure gates that swing and close without effort.
• No protrusions such as sprung rails, gate hinges, nails and heads of bolts.
• Dogs under total command, and a place to tie them up well away from yards when not in use.
• Lockable cupboard for animal remedies.
• Place to put scales in the race.
• Fully serviced first aid box.
  

Shelter/Shade & housing

• Goats are very different from sheep as they carry less fibre with less grease content, and they don’t have large fat reserves under their skin.
  
• Cold on its own is not the problem, for as ruminants they generate internal body heat from digestion; but a combination of cold and wet conditions can have drastic effects.
• Goats hate sudden rain or hail storms and they need shelter to protect them from these elements.
• A paddock with scrub or rushes provides ideal natural shelter, provided it also has enough good pasture to meet the stock’s needs.
• Artificial shelter can be made from hay bales, well-anchored corrugated iron either erected to stand straight or bent into a half circle, as well as scrim and shade cloth.
• There is also a wide range of specially made goat shelters available with no floors, solid floor or slats. They also vary in weight so some you can push around and others need an ATV or small tractor to shift. The lighter the shelter, the greater the risk of it being blown away.
• Slatted floor would be the best option to avoid fleece contamination but there’s always the risk of small kids getting their legs caught in them.
• Expect goats to climb on top of any structure in their paddock, so provide a safe surface for this. It’s a great play area of kids to play “king of the castle”.
• It’s worth considering putting a small goat shelter in a corner where four paddocks meet. This can act as the access between paddocks as well as a shelter and a means of holding some animals if needed.
• Shelter belts made up of narrow lines of tall trimmed trees are of little value as the lack of low cover in fact increases wind speed among the trees.
• So trying to grow good timber in narrow shelterbelts of well-pruned trees and protecting stock are not compatible. You need a mixture of tall and low trees to act as an effective windbreak.
• The area of least wind speed is twice the height of the shelterbelt out in the paddock where goat shelters should be placed and not at the base of the trees.
• In snowstorms narrow shelterbelt trees slow up the blowing snow to form a drift among the trees, and will bury any sheltering stock.
• Putting animals into a small plantation of trees with a good dry bed of accumulated needles is ideal. There is no browse in these woodlots so good feed must be provided, otherwise goats may eat too many needles, which can cause rumen compaction.
• Using forage trees such as willows, poplars and tree lucerne is a good idea, especially for browsing in droughts. These trees can be kept low by coppicing and the thicker stems can be used for firewood.
• Shade is now of increasing importance in New Zealand with high rates of radiation and sunburn on the noses and ears of white goats. Sheds and trees, which provide shelter in winter, can also provide shade in summer.
• When planning a shelter, use a figure of 0.9-1.0m2/goat as not all animals will use the facility at the same time.
• For a bedded yard where all goats are confined, use 1.7m2/goat.
  

Danger times for goats

Birth.

• The newborn kid has come from 27ºC into the cold world so is very prone to chilling. The low birth weight of Angora kids (around??kg) adds to their vulnerability, especially if they are born as multiples.
• So it’s essential that they get a good feed of colostrum immediately after birth. The doe normally hides her kids at birth so provision of shelter, natural or artificial is very important.
• Does that have just kidded, especially those with their first offspring may not take their newborns to shelter so vigilance is needed by those in charge.
• The doe and kid should be confined into a small sheltered space as often the doe may want to get back to her birth site attracted by the odour of the birth fluids and leave the kid behind.
  

Post shearing

• Newly shorn goats can very easily become chilled if hit by cold wet weather after shearing. It’s essential to have some shelter for them and plenty of good feed.
• They may need this special care for at least a couple of days and nights after being shorn.
  

Angora (Mohair) Goat Basics: Fiber handling

Agriculture, husbandry, goats, Angora, Mohair, fibre, handling, shearing

By Dr Clive Dalton

Kid fleece, 26-30 microns

Fibre handling

Shearing

• Shearing gear has to run much slower for mohair or cashmere goats as there is not as much grease in the fleece to help lubrication.
• Some goats are shorn standing up with their head held in a yoke.
• But this method slows up shearing, and many shearers just want to get the job done as fast as possible and put up with the goat's protest.
  

Suggestions from goat shearers:

• The handpiece should be set at 1500-200 rpm (2400rpm for sheep) to reduce overheating. This may not be possible with some plants.
• Use air-driven handpieces or electric battery pack ones.
• Stand the handpiece in a mixture of 2:1 kerosene and light oil after each goat is shorn.
• If using extra oil, then use it sparingly to avoid fleece contamination.
• Don’t use thin worn cutters and combs. A special goat comb is available to help prevent skin cuts.
• Snow combs used for sheep are not suitable for goats.
• Normal concave and convex combs can be used provided they have reasonable new straight teeth on the bottom side to give a good clean finish without second cuts.
• Shear against the lie of the fibre as much as possible.
• Leave all coarse fibre on the belly and leave the beard on.
• Only shear the belly if it’s growing plenty of quality fibre.
  

Important point: If there is any risk of dampness, then expect the shearer to refuse to shear your goats. It’s bad for the shearer’s health (skin boils) and damp mohair will become mildewed and be worthless if packed damp.

Shearing times

• Angoras are best shorn twice a year – in autumn and spring to provide a fibre 100-175mm long. Good Angora goats are capable of growing 25mm of fibre every month, especially over the spring and summer when nutrient intake is high.
• The aim is to shear before any fibres are naturally shed and get caught up in the fleece causing felting which makes processing (combing) more difficult.
• Shedding usually occurs from August to October but animals under stress can shed fibres earlier. So it’s important to keep a close watch on the state of the fleece as shearing should be done before shedding.
• Shearing should also be done at least six weeks before kidding to avoid fibre break and felting caused by the stress of birth and lactation. This also makes it easier for the kids to find the udder after birth. If you cannot fully shear at this time, it could pay to crutch the goat to clear fibre from the udder area.
• Autumn shearing should also fit in with mating. It’s certainly important to shear bucks before mating as when they start their urine spraying they contaminate most of their underside and front.
• Newly shorn goats will need extra care as the weather in early spring can be unpredictable. Shearing after kidding will end up with poor quality fleeces due to felting.
  

Fleece contamination

• Impurities that contaminate fleeces are either natural or acquired from the environment. The main natural contaminant is grease, which protects the fibre from weathering; it’s very important to help waterproof the goat.
• Urine stain is another example and is most common in males as are coloured fibres from other goats or dogs in the shearing shed.
• Acquired impurities picked up from the environment include vegetable matter (especially weed seeds such as burrs), sand and soil and chemicals from dips and pourons.
  

Sources of contamination
Hay

• This is a common contaminant and gets into fleeces when goats crowd around when hay is thrown out.
• When feeding from hayracks, it’s inevitable that hay and seeds gets into their fleeces.
• One idea is to shut the goats out of the area where hay is laid out before opening the gate to let them in to feed.
• Don’t throw the hay in large biscuits or the goats will shake it up before selecting mouthfuls. Feed it in small heaps and only what they can clean up, or they‘ll find it a very attractive dry bed to lie on.
  

Silage/Balage

• Contamination is less here as any seeds from the crop are wet and won’t blow around.
• But there’s still the chance of stalks getting into the fleece.
• Use the same feeding trick as described for hay – keep the goats away till the fodder is laid out.
  

Meal

• This is usually not a problem unless it’s very dusty.
• Turn the troughs over after use to keep the rain out and to stop goats resting in them.
  

Weed seeds

• These are a major problem when they are dry and hard and hence easily picked up on the fleece and spread.
• If grazed or browsed when green, there will be no seed heads to worry about.
• Burrs as seen on Bathurst Burr and Bidi-bid are the most serious.
  

Chemicals

• Concern is mainly from dips, pourons and sprays to prevent external parasites, and consumers are becoming more concerned about their use in “natural fibres”.
• They don’t like the idea of any chemical getting inside the fibre, or any ending up in the environment from scouring before processing.
• Withholding times for all chemicals used must be adhered to and don’t treat for at least six weeks before shearing (the same rule as applied to wool).
  

Shed (dung) stain

• This can seriously downgrade fibre and happens so easily when shearing is planned and rain unexpectedly appears. So you rush the goats inside straight off the pasture into the nearest cover you can find.
• Even if you have a shed with grating, sloppy dung will still get rubbed from one animal to another as they mill around.
• Floors without grating are a big hazard, as with the accumulation of dung overnight, they become very slippy and goats fall over (humans too!) when being caught and the fleece gets stained.
• This green stain cannot be scoured out of wool to meet the high specifications of top quality mohair.
• If goats must be left indoors overnight, then give them at least half a day emptying out in a bare yard or on very bare pasture. Make sure they have water.
• Sand and sawdust floors are not a good idea either.
  

Urine stain

• This is mainly a problem of bucks, which should be shorn before they start to become active in the autumn.
• At least shear their bellies and chests. Leave them with their beards!
  

Sand & soil

• Goats like to rub in earth banks, in many cases because they have lice so check regularly for that.
• Sand and soil are hated by shearers as they ruin their combs and cutters. A good rain can wash out a lot of sand and soil due to the open staple formation.
  

Rain

• Wet and humid weather can produce a yellow stain and little can be done about it, other than to shear twice a year so after rain fleeces dry out quickly.

Angora (Mohair) Goat Basics: Handling fleeces

Agriculture, goats, husbandry, Angora, Mohair, fleece, handling

By Clive Dalton

 

The final objective - top quality combed top 26-30 microns

Handling fleeces
If you do a good job on the basic fleece handling on the farm, then it makes the job easier for the classer, and this will be reflected in a higher return. Here are some suggestions:

Before shearing

• Sort goats into sexes and age groups. For example:
• Crosses G1 to G4.
• Any shorn at different times with different fleece lengths.
• Kids (separate sexes not needed).
• Yearlings (will be mainly does but keep wethers separate).
• Mixed age (wethers to be kept separate).
• Bucks (of all ages).
  

On the shearing board

• Sweep the belly away as soon as it is shorn and keep it separate.
• Pick up the fleece and lay it out for sorting.
  

On the table

• The main body fibre is your main money earner, so don’t let anything contaminate this.
• G4 and G3 goats need only to have the stained pieces and vegetable contamination removed.
• G2 and G1 need to have the shorter off-types (that differ greatly from the main body fleece) skirted along with any kemp on the britch or back line. Stained and very kempy pieces should be kept quite separate.
  

Packing the fleeces

• Put each fleece in the fadge, arranging about six fleeces in each layer (ten if they are small), with a sheet or two of newspaper between each layer.
• Close up the fadge correctly and put your name and customer number on it. Add a brief description of what’s in the bale.
  

Documentation

• It’s very important to all concerned that you do this correctly.
• Close the fadge securely.
• Mark on the outside with a waterproof marker pen your name, address, phone number and customer number if you have one.
• Mark on the fadge a description of what’s inside.
• Keep a detailed record of what you sent to the pool.
• Let the pool know how and when you are delivering the fleeces.
  

Fibre testing

• Fibre testing is done at a specialist laboratory (see appendix for details). A mid side sample of fleece is needed for this and the correct point for sampling is one full hand span from the middle of the back of the goat over the last rib.
• A sample of 20-30g of fibre is needed for this.
• The lab will wash the sample, and after drying an allowable “moisture regain“ of 16% is added. This weight is then expressed as a percentage of the original weight to show the “yield” of clean fibre.
• The most important characteristic in an Angora fleece is fibre diameter (FD) so it’s important to know the mean and the variation around the mean.
• For example if 400 individual fibres were measured and the mean was 27 microns, there could be a range between 10 and 60 microns and this is expressed as the Standard Deviation (SD).
• In making comparisons between animals, it’s useful to use the Coefficient of Variation (CoV) which is the Standard Deviation expressed as a percentage of the mean.
• If the CoV is small, then you know that the variation in the sample, and hence the goat’s fleece is low. If it’s high the CoV shows that there is a lot of variation in the animal’s fleece. A CoV of 25% is regarded as normal and satisfactory.
• The other useful test to have done is medullation to see how many coarse fibres, especially kemps, there are in the fleece.
  

Cattle farm husbandry - cattle behaviour & handling

Cattle, farming, husbandry, behaviour, senses, communication, housing cattle, farm raceways, training cattle to lead, droving on highway

By Dr Clive Dalton

Stock handlers at sale yards are always at risk with strange cattle.
Experience is their protector

Cattle – what are they?

• This is not a silly question as thinking about it is a good approach to realise what we expect from cattle – and how at times we may be totally unreasonable.
  
• Cattle are large ruminants that digest fibrous feed, but cannot graze as close to the ground as sheep.
  
• Cattle sweep grass into their mouths with their long tongues before tearing it off with their bottom teeth against a top hard dental pad before swallowing it for digestion in the rumen.
• They are a herding species with a clearly developed social hierarchy but when disturbed, they don’t gather together like sheep.
  
• Cattle are a “lying-out” species where calves don’t follow their dams all the time like lambs and suckle at frequent intervals.
  
• In the early weeks of life cows leave their calves in crèches and go back to suckle them 2-3 times a day.

More about ruminants

• Ruminants digest fibrous feed in their 3 fore-stomachs (rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum).
  
• The abomasum is the true gastric stomach.
  
• Digestion of fibre produces mainly carbon dioxide and methane which is released by belching.
  
• If this mechanism fails and gas builds up, the cattle can die with bloat. Being a ruminant dictates their entire behaviour.

What do cattle do all day?

Cattle divide their day into periods of:

• Grazing – taking in feed using their prehensile (grasping) tongue and bottom teeth. Feed goes into the rumen via the abomasum (honey comb bag) where heavy objects collect like medicinal boluses and bits of wire.
• High-yielding dairy cows have to spend at least 8-10 hours/day grazing to meet their nutritional needs. Beef cattle have much less pressure and stress to live with.
• Chewing. The feed is chewed, formed into a ball (bolus) with saliva and swallowed. An adult cow produces about 100 Litres of saliva each day. A dairy cow makes 30,000 to 40,000 grazing bites/day.
• Rumination. Here feed is given time to ferment in the large rumen by micro-organisms and the cow does this both standing and lying down.
• Regurgitation. Here the grass bolus in the rumen is belched up again for a second chewing (mastication) of around 300 chews/bolus.
• The feed is re-swallowed back into the omasum which is like the leaves in a book for final grinding. It then passes into the abomasum for gastric digestion.
• Idling. The cow stands still appearing to do nothing but it’s a time of active rumen fermentation.
• Resting – long periods of lying down (ruminating) and short periods of sleep.
• Drinking. This may require quite a lot of time in walking to a water source. a mature cow in milk drinks about 70 Litres of water each day.
  

Cattle senses
Sight

• The position of the cow’s eyes means it has a narrow 25-50° binocular vision while looking ahead, but a very wide almost 360° peripheral vision looking around its sides.
  
• Cattle are very concerned to check the narrow blind spot at their rear by regular head movements and changing their body position when grazing.
• A cow’s eyes are designed to see down rather than up and when alarmed they will raise the head to investigate.
  
• Cattle can recognise different people from their shape and colour of clothing although they have limited colour vision.
  
• They are aware of numbers and regularly associate more than one person with pain or stress of injections or forced handling when extra humans appear.
  

Point of balance

• Cattle have an imaginary “point of balance” just behind the shoulder and you can use this to get them to move.
  
• If you move ahead of this point, the beast will move back, and if you move behind it then it will move forward.
  
• They also have a point of balance in the centre of their head so if you move to the right of it, the beast will move to the left, and vice versa.

Hearing

• Cattle are sensitive to high frequency sounds which people cannot hear, and these can increase arousal, while low tones are more relaxing.
  
• Music is regularly used in milking parlours to provide cows with a familiar background noise to create a sense of normality.
  
• They easily adapt to the full range of music from hard rock to hymns and from low volume to head-splitting.

Smell

• Cattle have a better sense of smell than people.
  
• The smell of blood (from both cattle and sheep) can cause great panic and has been seen when cattle passed paddocks treated with blood and bone fertiliser.
  
• For some unknown reason, this panic reaction was not consistent and has not yet been explained.

Touch

• Cattle have a very sensitive skin and can flick flies off from localised areas.
  
• Cows respond well to touch and use it as an important form of communication among each other.
  
• Mutual grooming is important in cattle, especially in mature animals, and dams lick and groom their calves right up to weaning. T
• ouch is important for handlers to warn cows where the humans are – e.g. when milking.

Sleep

• Adult cattle sleep very little and in very short spells.
  
• The sleeping pose is all four legs tucked under and head turned to face the rear.
  
• Cattle must be well settled and comfortable before they’ll sleep.
  
• If animals are disturbed at night, they will sleep more during the day.
  
• Sleep and rest have big implications for the design of cubicles, loafing areas and feed pads. If stock cannot rest when they desire, they become very tired, get sore feet and production and health are affected.

Memory

• Cattle remember single events for a considerable time – certainly for weeks and often even for months.
• Humans ignore this at their peril.
  
• One really bad experience with a single human will put cattle off all people for a considerable time.
  
• They can often remember an individual human, mainly from visual outline and dress such as the vet in green overalls.
• Smokers who gave regular monthly injections in a programme made cows very agitated when any other smoker arrived at milking time.
  
• It can take a long time to restore a positive human/animal bond. Herd managers report that it can take a whole year to change the behaviour of cows who have been badly managed.
  

Cattle Communication

• Cattle use a range of body signals to communicate with each other and their eyes have a key role.
  
• They use “eyes down” to show submission, and “eyes up” to show confidence. Cows on heat use mounting behaviour to signal to other cows and the bull.
  
• The cow’s tail is important too – when held tight down to show a relaxed mood, half up to show alertness and held high to show panic.
  
• A stressed cow or bull will usually defaecate profusely too with tail up.

Bulls

They use at least 5 signals with their heads:

• Normal relaxed position.
• Friendly approach before grooming by other cow.
• Threat approach – watching you with one eye and snorting.
• Submissive avoidance – pretending not to look.
• Withdrawal from conflict and head toss with snort.
• Cattle raise the tail in play or panic and the tail also slightly raised in heat and mild panic.
  

Housing cattle
Some farmers are now covering their feed pads so the animals are effectively housed in open air structures that provide shade and shelter. The table below gives some space requirements.

Farm raceways and lameness

• The farm raceway on dairy farms has been identified as a major cause of lameness.
• Unstressed cows walk with their heads straight out in front watching where they are going.
• A cow’s back feet generally hit the same spots where their front feet have landed so they can adjust their weight and feet if they step on sharp stones.
• When cows are pushed by impatient staff, motorbikes or biting dogs, they have to move with heads up and don’t see where they are going. Lameness, pain and suffering will result along with lost production.
• The surface of the race must be free from sharp stones and have sufficient camber to allow good drainage of surface water. A good test is to see if you can walk along it in bare feet. If you can, then it’s OK for the cows!
• The race should be wide enough to suit herd size. The table below gives some recommended widths:
  

Herd size and width of race.

Training cattle to lead

• This is a very hard and dangerous exercise with large mature animals such as cows and bulls, and it’s best done when they are calves.
• Put a halter on the calf and tie it up for short periods (e.g. 30 minutes) twice a day, and feed the calf where it is tied.
• Groom and handle it when tied up.
• Then move the feed away some distance and lead the calf to the feed.
• Then start to lead it around without feed – giving it a gentle push from behind as well as some light pressure on the lead. Get someone to help do the pushing.
• Teaching mature stock to lead is not easy as they are so strong.
• Use the tie up technique (30 minute spells) for 2-3 periods each day for a week, grooming and massaging at the same time. Offer some feed too while grooming.
• Then try leading over short distances with help from an assistant pushing the animal from behind when it baulks. Don’t let it get away on you or get its head down, or it will remember its success and do it again. Wear safety boots with plenty of grip.
• To get animals used to halters and restraint, some stockpersons tie two animals of similar weights together with two collars joined by a 500mm chain including a swivel, so they get used to their heads being directed.
• Try this trick with animals of different weight so the large one teaches the lighter one to lead.
  
• Some stud breeders have used a donkey to teach show cattle to lead. The donkey and cattle beast are tied together with a short chain and swivel for a few weeks. But you must keep a regular check on them and many animal welfarists would not be too happy – especially donkey breeders.
• If you do have to train a mature beast, you’ll needs lots of strong helpers and plenty of time. Dragging it on a halter behind a tractor is not effective and is very dangerous for all concerned.
  

Droving cattle on the highway

• With today’s traffic and motorists’ attitudes to livestock on the highway, this is a high risk business that should be avoided wherever possible.
• Under the NZ Transport Act 1962 and the Local Government Act 2002, local authorities are increasingly brining in Stock Droving and Crossing bylaws that will greatly restrict the movement of stock on a highway and certainly phase out stock crossings in favour of underpasses for dairy herds.
• This is being driven by road safety issues but urban dwellers don’t like getting dung on their cars as they have heard about salmonella and campylobacter present in animal faeces.
  
• To avoid any legal problems in case of accidents or confrontations with motorists, you must be able to show that you have taken all due care and not deliberately placed motorists in danger. Be aware of this, as you may have to prove it in court, so make sure you provide large safety margins.
• If you are forced to move cattle on the road, first check with the local authorities (district and regional councils) because their regulations vary in regard to the need for permits.
• You may need to give 10 days notice of your droving plans and also submit a “traffic management plan” and get a permit. This may take some time to sort out and may cost money.
• Local government bodies are concerned about damage to the highway and the verges, and large fines can be faced for breaching bylaws.
• Droving within townships and on certain roads is prohibited and established stock routes must be used when designated.
• If you have to cross a railway, you must inform the railway authority.
• Stock movements are not allowed on the road during the hours of darkness or when visibility is less than 100m.
• Don’t attempt to drive stock too far. For dry dairy cows, 10 - 12 km/day on level going is far enough. If there are hills then you may have to walk them less. Don’t plan to drive young stock any more than 12km/day.
• Remember that when stock first get on the road they will take off at a trot and this can be the most dangerous time until they steady down.
• When they settle down, let them proceed at a steady amble or walk to avoid excess feet wear on the abrasive road surface.
• Stock need rest, feed and water at the end of each day’s journey. This will have to be arranged in advance.
• Have plenty of support with people well ahead and well behind with large notices and flashing orange lights to warn traffic. Make sure staff wear reflective safety jerkins and crash hats if they are on bikes or ATVs.
• Be especially careful with the working dogs that move quickly and often get run over as they dart around below windscreen view. Make them a reflective jacket!
• Expect motorists to have little knowledge of how to drive through a mob of stock so you will have to be very clear in your directions to help them.
• Do not be tempted to damage a motorist’s vehicle in any way through frustration as experience shows that you’ll generally lose the court case!
• Have vehicle support for any animals that go lame and a first aid kit handy for both animals and humans.
  

Cattle transport – general points

• Most concern is over the transport of pregnant and milking cows and especially during a sea voyage. See the Transport of Livestock Code and the Dairy Cow code of welfare for full details.
• The following cattle should be penned separately: young calves, a cow with calf at foot, adult stock bulls, cattle of differing size, cattle with horns from polled stock, and cows at advanced pregnancy.
  

OSH requirements

• Your cattle yards are “a place of work” and the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) legislation applies to everything that goes on in them.
  
• The law says that the owner, lessee, sub-lessee, occupier and anyone in the vicinity must not be harmed by any hazard in the work place.
  
• So under OSH regulations you are required to go around the yards (and the farm) and first, IDENTIFY all the hazards, then secondly to ELIMINATE them. If you cannot eliminate them then you are required to take the third option and ISOLATE them.
  
• A good example is an offal hole which is a hazard that you cannot eliminate but you can isolate with an effective cover and fence.
• The key point is that if anyone has an “accident” which is generally interpreted by farmers as needing medical treatment or time in hospital, then the person in charge of operations at the time could be liable if hazards were found that had not be identified and dealt with.
  
• So you have to be aware of risks to people who visit your yards such as truck operators, veterinarians or AI technicians.
  
• Check with your nearest OSH office of the Labour Department for full information. We have got to take this seriously from now on, as we kill and maim too many people every day on farms and court proceedings can be very costly.
  

Disclaimer This material is provided in good faith for information purposes only, and the author does not accept any liability to any person for actions taken as a result of the information or advice (or the use of such information or advice) provided in these pages.

Cattle farm husbandry – the bull

Cattle, farming, husbandry, the bull, age to buy, horns or polled, puberty age, libido & fertility, traits to look for when purchasing, performance records, management when with cows and aferwards, ringing a bull, safety in handling.


By Dr Clive Dalton

Can you do without a bull?


It’s a good idea to try avoid keeping a bull for these reasons:

• Bulls are dangerous and regularly injure and kill people. Include them on your OSH hazard list near the top.
• They are generally expensive if you buy a decent one.
• They eat more than a cow - sometimes nearer what two small-breed cows would eat.
• They break fences and gates and visit neighbours’ cows when not invited.
• They love digging holes to mark their territory - and as soon as you fill them in they dig them out again. Then other bulls come and enlarge the holes which fill with water.
• They love to fight with other bulls, especially strange bulls belonging to neighbours.
• They get very territorial and dangerous as they get older.
• They can be very musical and roar all night at other cattle in adjoining paddocks.
• You’ll need to change a bull before he comes round to mate his daughters.
• As bulls age they often get arthritis and feet problems, and these can be a major job to treat and need special facilities and vet bills.
• Bulls can spread venereal diseases through the herd.
• There is always some concern about a bull’s fertility and sex drive – both can vary over time.
  

What are the alternatives?

• Use Artificial Insemination (AI) or Artificial Breeding (AB).
• Borrow or lease a bull. Leasing a bull is now common with dairy farmers, and there are plenty of people who supply a wide range of dairy and beef bulls for lease. These bulls must have been tested for Tb and EBL, and now vets are recommending that they be BVD free as well.
• Do not take any animal on to your property without clear evidence of freedom from all of these diseases. Check with your veterinarian about these disease threats.
• Take your cows to the neighbour’s bull. You will have to pay a grazing and service fee. The cost could be about $12/week for grazing, and the price of the bull divided by the number of calves he produces.
  
• There are a few ways to work out these charges. But again, make sure the bull and the herd your cows are going to for mating are disease free - especially their Tb status.
• Share the bull, week-by-week-about with a neighbour. Remember that a cow cycles every 21 days so if you are second in the queue for the bull, your calving dates will be later by these intervals.
  

What age of bull to buy?

• Generally it’s best to buy a young bull, as there are generally fewer risks with health and physical problems like feet and being overweight.
• A yearling bull can be ideal, provided you put him with experienced older cows as he may have to learn a few tricks of the trade. It won’t take him long.
• It’s a good idea to put an older experienced bull with young heifers, provided he is not too heavy and may damage them when mating.
• It’s important to realise that the age of the bull will not affect the size of the calf at birth. It’s the bull’s genetics that dictate this, and the size and feeding of the cow during pregnancy.
• Using a yearling bull on heifers to avoid calving troubles may not work. He may have the genes for high growth rate, which he will pass on to his calves, starting at birth, regardless of his age when he is used.
• If you use a good bull as a yearling, he will retain a lot of his value as a two-year-old if you want to sell him the next season for breeding. An older bull after use is more likely to be valued at works price as a potter bull which will be good because he’ll be heavy.
  

Horned or polled bulls?

• Horns are pre-historic appendages not needed on modern cattle. They bruise meat, damage hides, and injure people. They are certainly weapons you don’t want to have on a bull.
• Give high priority to breeds that are polled, and if you need to use a horned breed, get your veterinarian to dehorn him properly as soon as he arrives on your property. This will be a messy operation that will cost you money.
• Cutting the tips off a bull’s horns is not proper dehorning and can make them more damaging.
• Don’t lease horned bulls as the risks are too great.
  

Puberty
Bulls reach puberty around 9-12 months old but young bull calves from 4 months old sucking their mothers can become sexually active so it pays to watch them. It’s only their lack of reach that prevents them doing the job!

Libido and fertility

• “Fertility” is the bull’s ability to produce viable sperm, and to measure it you need to check a sample of his semen.
  
• Only bulls at AI centres are trained to serve into an artificial vagina (AV) so on the farm a semen sample is obtained by electrical ejaculation.
  
• This is not always reliable as you only get a trickle out of the bull and not a good ejaculation as with an AV.
• You can also check fertility by seeing how many cows return to oestrus after the first 18-24 days of him joining the herd. But if he’s infertile you will have lost time on calving next year.
• “Libido” is the bull’s sex drive. He may have plenty of it but be infertile, so the two may not go together. His sex drive for females may take time to develop if he has been reared in a homosexual group of young bulls. He may need time to learn his trade.
• Some beef breeders now offer bulls after having a libido test done before sale. This “serving capacity” test indicates how many times the bull will mount and correctly serve a female held in a headbail in a certain time. It has to be done under veterinary supervision as the restrained females can get knocked about and injured.
• If your newly-purchased bull has libido or fertility problems, contact the vendor or your vet immediately, as you should be able to claim money back or get a replacement animal.
  
• Top breeders will always replace defective bulls, but you will have lost time finding out and next year’s calving will be delayed.
• Bulls will mate all year round and do not show a “rut” like sheep, goats and deer.
• Mounting and ejaculation are very quick by a bull where he grasps the cow with his front legs and his whole weight is propelled forward on the cow on his final thrust. This can be a tonne of beef in a large bull and can damage a heifer if she goes down risking breaking her legs and pelvis.
  

Physical traits should you look for in a bull

• Feet - the bull should stand evenly on all claws of all feet. There should be no misshapen claws or crossed toe nails.
• Walking - he is going to have to do a lot of this, as well as mounting on his hind legs. Make sure he can walk freely and his back legs don’t look too straight or stiff (called post legged). He should have flexible pasterns and hocks. Give him a “hurry-up” and see if he can move easily. The owner may not like this but it’s your money you are spending.
• Testicles - these should be large as sperm capacity is related to size. At some bull sales scrotum circumference is recorded in the catalogue. The testicles should be loose inside the scrotum if you’re brave enough to feel them. If in doubt get a vet to check them along with the health of the bull’s penis. Good vendors have all this done before sale time.
  

Where is the meat?

• You can spend a lot of time over the finer details of "conformation" but just make sure the meat is on the rear end (the expensive cuts) rather than the front end (the cheap cuts).
• And make sure that the bull looks like what a bull of that breed should look like, (in trade terms “true to type”).
  
• Use some experienced person who knows stock to help you assess this.
  

Breeders with performance records?
Buy from a breeder who has a sound breeding programme and is making genetic progress. The NZ Beef Council, PO Box 4025, Wellington, will give you advice on this.

What to do when you get a new bull home

• NEVER TRUST A BULL –and if in any doubt, always have someone and/or a good cattle dog with you when handling a bull.
  
• A hand-reared friendly pet bull is the most dangerous of all as one day he’ll want to play with you!
• Give a new bull a quiet journey home in his own pen in the truck.
• Unload him carefully to avoid injury.
• Put him in a well-fenced paddock within sight of other cattle or give him some steers for company and keep an eye them.
• Keep him away from other bulls - in both sight and sound if possible.
• Check that he has respect for electric fences and gates. If not, you’ll have to have a strategy to fix this problem quickly, or he’ll build on his experience and become an escapologist.
• Six metres is a bull’s “flight or fight” distance so keep out if it as much as you can.
  

How many cows per bull?

• A good rule is 3% + 1 bulls for cows, and 4% + 1 for heifers during the main mating season. Never have less than two bulls available.
• If you have not fertility-tested your bull, change him over with a different one every 7-10 days depending on how he looks. Veterinarians regularly find 10% of bulls are infertile which is far too high a figure.
• It takes 60 days for sperm to mature in the testicles so make sure all bulls are in top health long before mating.
• Fighting among bulls is common during mating, so watch for injuries to shoulders, legs, and penises. Change bulls more regularly if they are prone to fighting and you may have to find a combination of bulls that agree to get on together and share the work.
• For bulls to run with the cows after an AI programme is finished (called tailing up), then assume that about 60% of cows should be pregnant and then 3% +1 bulls should do the job. There should not be a lot of work left for them to do but keep a close eye on this just in case.
  

Management when the bull is with the cows.

• Let nature take its course but be vigilant and check the bull (or bulls) every day.
• Check that he is achieving a proper erection when mounting the cows and is serving into the cow's vagina correctly.
• Make sure that a bull actually has a good ejaculation with all four feet off the ground in the final thrust. If he just seems to “fiddle about” and doesn’t ejaculate with a cow on standing heat, then suspect a problem and have your veterinarian check him.
• A bull may serve a cow up to 3 times before she stops accepting him. Separating the bull from the cow is danger time for the handler, as the bull always wants one more service and will try to get back to the cow - perhaps with you in the way.
• Keep checking for injuries and exhaustion if he is losing interest and not working.
• He may be lying down a lot which should be viewed with suspicion. Give him a week off if you have another bull available.
• On a small block with few cows, boredom will be the bull’s main problem. Watch that he doesn’t start to pay too much interest in the neighbours’ cows or bulls – and start showing his dominance over you too.
  

Management after mating

• Work out when you want calving to finish and remove the bull 283 days before that date. There can be a 14 day spread either side of that pregnancy date.
• Take the bull out and put him in a separate paddock with some mates if you want to keep him. With a quiet bull he may be quite happy in a paddock on his own as long as he is within sight of other cattle.
• He may need to build up condition lost during mating, but make sure he doesn’t get too fat.
• If you are not worried about calving spread, then just leave him with the cows all the time. This is not a good idea.
• If you are not keeping him, book the truck to his next destination (sale or slaughter) the day he comes out from the cows unless he’s really skinny and you want to put some weight on him. It’s often wise to forget about adding value and bid him farewell!
  

A nose ring or not?

• If your bull does not have a ring in his nose, then forget about the idea.
  
• And if he does, then don’t ever think you can control him by hanging on to it, as bulls are far too strong. If you insist on a bull having a ring, then get your veterinarian to put it in using an anaesthetic for the nose and a shot to keep the rest of his bulk quiet. Never try to put one of those self-piercing rings in without a vet as you’ll get killed.

Farming bulls for beef

• This is a very specialist enterprise and is not for small farms or lifestyle blocks.
• Management needs to concentrate on keeping the bulls quiet and feeding them well to average 1kg/head/day over the 12 months they are on the farm, and then getting rid of them so you operate an annual programme.
• Any stress or disturbance in the system will be exploited by the bulls and they’ll waste time fighting, riding and injuring themselves – and not putting on weight.
• The love to dig holes to claim territory and strip and break young trees.
• The will wreck fences and gates and often dig holes below fences in confrontations with stock in the next paddock.
  
• Once an injured bull is taken out of a mob, unless he recovers within a few days, putting him back is a lost cause as he’ll be seen as a stranger and be ridden and injured again – and even killed.
• The best systems are either to set stock them with plenty or room to avoid conflict, or keep them intensively and move them on to new feed every one of two days.
• Get rid of them before they get territorial after 12 months old.
• Some bull beef farmers keep a Jack donkey with each mob to stop fighting. The Jack seems to act as part referee and part bouncer but donkey breeders hate this as the donkeys can get injured and they go lame with “founder” eating all the high-protein grass and bull farmers never trim their feet.
  

Disclaimer This material is provided in good faith for information purposes only, and the author does not accept any liability to any person for actions taken as a result of the information or advice (or the use of such information or advice) provided in these pages.

Sheep Farm Husbandry - Sheep behaviour and handling

Sheep behaviour & handling, sheep senses, social order, feeding, handling tricks, catching, moving and immobilising sheep, droving on the highway, welfare issues

By Dr Clive Dalton

Are sheep intelligent?

• Animal behaviourists don’t like this question as it smacks of anthropomorphism – i.e. assigning human feelings and behaviour to animals. The better question is – can sheep learn?
• Sheep can easily learn simple routines like coming when called, finding holes in fences, opening gates, and acting as leaders and they can learn these tricks from each other.
  
• Feed rewards are the way to teach sheep routines and tricks, if you think it’s a wise move. You may live to regret it!
• Lambs quickly learn from their dams – e.g. eating new feed like concentrate meal, grain, hay, silage, cracking open chestnuts with their feet, eating garden flowers, and even kitchen waste. They’ll also learn escape tricks from their mothers and flock mates.
• Their senses are certainly different from humans.
  

Sheep senses
Sight

• Sheep have generally very good vision.
• The position of their eye allows wide peripheral vision as they can span some 145° with each eye.
• Binocular vision is much narrower–40° wide. They have no vision 2-3cm immediately in front of the nose.
• After locating a threat in their peripheral vision, they turn to examine it with binocular vision.
• They have a blind spot at their rear of around 70°, which is wider than the cow, and is useful when catching sheep.
• Sheep tracks are never straight as sheep continually turn to watch behind them.
• They have colour vision but it’s not as well developed as in humans.
• They often react in fear to novel colours that they’re not used to, e.g. yellow rain gear.
• Sheep remember flock mates for very long periods (years) after separation.

Sheep don't like to see light through the woolshed
floor grating in the doorway of the shed

Smell

• Sheep have a good sense of smell and will not eat mouldy or musty feed.
• Smell is a major factor in rams locating ewes in heat.
• Smell is also vital in lamb identification by the dam associated with sight recognition.
• Sheep are very sensitive to predator smells. Feed intake was measured with different predator smells on it and you can see from the results below that coyotes, foxes and cougars put sheep off their food!

Sheep reactions to predator odours

Hearing

• Sheep have acute hearing and they can direct their ears to the direction of the sound.

Memory

• Sheep have good memories.
• They have been shown to recognise other sheep’s faces years later with no meeting in between.
• Tests showed they remembered at least 50 other sheep’s faces, even in profile. They also remembered 10 or more human faces.
• Sheep that have been trained to do simple tasks are able to repeat them 6-12 months later.
  

Sheep remember experiences so gentle handling
is important to avoid bruising and pain.

Social order

• Sheep are the classical social “flocking” animal.
• They use the flock as a defence against predators – running away a short distance to form a flock and then turning round to face the predator. On closer approach by the threat, they scatter and regroup.
• Social ranking is not as obvious in sheep as in other species. Normally you’ll see very few confrontations among ewes unless they have young lambs to fight over.
• Sheep work out a social order by head butting, nudging, poking with horns, shoulder pushing, blocking and mounting. This is seen most clearly in horned rams (American wild mountain sheep) that back off then charge, meeting head to head with a large bang. Horned and polled rams should not be mixed as the horned rams will break the others’ necks.
• Submissive behaviours in sheep includes lowering of the head and neck and moving away with a headshake.
• In wild sheep a dominant ram leads a small flock followed by females, juveniles and lambs. He establishes this as a harem of about a dozen ewes.
• Rams can form harems in farmed flocks in large hill country paddocks where they can easily get separated from main flock. Regular mustering is needed to prevent this.
• In wild sheep, a lamb will stay with its dam till the next lamb is born. Both sexes will stay in their family groups till the adolescent males take off.
• In farmed flocks you don’t see much evidence of social order, as regular mustering and movement prevent much of it.
• In groups of rams, especially Merinos in hot climates with no shade, they stand in a tight pack creating shade for each other.
• Merino sheep pack very tightly when being mustered and once in a tight circular mob, you have to get a leader to spin off somewhere and act as leader to get the mob to unwind and move forward.
• This leader sheep is not of high social rank – it’s the first one who thinks they can escape. Pressure from barking dogs just makes the pack tighter, and if you are in the middle of this crush, you can feel the physical pressure that can lead to a smother.
• Merinos need room to move and hate hassle. They have different behaviour to other farmed breeds.
• Lambs are noted for their play behaviour – “follow the leader” and “king of the castle”. It’s said to be an indication of intelligence level and using this behaviour, sheep would rank highly.
  

Sheep are the classical 'follower species' -
waiting for one to make a move

Feeding behaviour

• Sheep are ruminants and they start nibbling pasture from about a week old. They are fully efficient ruminants by about a month old.
• Sheep can graze more closely than cattle as they have a split upper lip.
• They graze for about 8-9 hours/day, which can extend to 13 hours when feed is short.
• Grazing bouts (when feed is plentiful) are about 20 –90 minutes long, and they can have as many as 9 of them in 24 hours.
• After a grazing bout they have spells of 45-90 minutes of rumination and rest.
• In open range, sheep have preferred areas and stick to these. This is seen in the UK “hefting” system in unfenced mountain grazings. A major concern in the UK Foot and Mouth disaster was how to replace these sheep after slaughter as they would have to learn this behaviour all again.
• Mixed grazing by cattle and sheep is ideal to maintain a good close pasture, and sheep adapt to this without any behavioural problems.
• The condition of a sheep’s teeth is critical, and can have a big effect on behaviour.
• Sheep learn from their mothers about which feed is suitable and safe to eat. South Island sheep will eat grain and hay as they learn from their mothers in spring. North Island sheep will generally not eat grain or hay as they are never offered it.
• It often takes 2-3 weeks for sheep to learn as mature animals, and some may never accept supplementary feed and starve. Sheep also learn to eat different feeds from other adults or their peers.
• Sheep store surplus energy as fat inside the body cavity (e.g. kidney fat and around the intestines) and under the skin. They use this during late pregnancy and lactation for lamb growth and milk production.
• About 3-4 weeks before mating, ewes are given extra feed to encourage extra eggs to be shed from the ovary, ending in more lambs produced. This is called “flushing”.
• Sheep kept indoors show stress by eating the wood of their pens and they will also eat their wool or the wool of the sheep in the next pen.
• This wool eating is seen in sheep that have been buried in deep snow for long periods (up to three weeks).
• Sheep need water – about 4 L/day/adult sheep and 1 L/day for a lamb. But they can adapt to severe drought conditions and extract enough moisture to survive from herbage or dew on pasture. The Australian outback Merino shows this important behavioural trait best.
  

Sheep handling tricks

• To keep sheep moving, make sure there’s a clear way ahead.
• Sheep don’t like visual dead ends – maybe they suspect it could lead to their dead end!
• Let them think they’re about to escape back to their territorial area – the paddock they came from.
• If you have a dead end in a woolshed, put a mirror on the wall so they see a sheep to join up with for security.
• If you have to put sheep along a handling race, pen a decoy sheep at the far end to help the flow towards it.
• Make races narrow enough to prevent sheep turning round. This is not easy, as you have to handle sheep ranging in size from large pregnant ewes to small lambs in the same facilities. Having tapered sides to the race is a help.
• Make sure the sides of pens and races where you do most of the handling are close-boarded, so the sheep cannot see through and get distracted.
• Advancing sheep should not be able to see those following them, as they’ll stop, then reverse, or try to turn round and block the flow.
• Sheep following each other should see sheep moving ahead, preferably around a bend. Moving sheep will generally “pull” the followers with them – once you’ve got a flow going.
• Sheep move best from dark into light, and dislike changes in light contrast.
• Sheep don’t like bright lights e.g. reflections from windows.
• They don’t like light coming up from under gratings. Gratings at woolshed doors should to be laid so the floor looks solid to the sheep walking inside.
• Sheep really panic on slippery floors – so provide some grip.
• Sheep don’t move well in mud and accumulated wet dung so keep the concrete parts of sheep yards clean.
• Sheep soon get adjusted to any noise used to move them – so keep changing the noise for full effect. Changing it (or stopping it) will also help prevent the staff going silly!
• Sheep remember past experiences. Run them through new facilities a few times and let them think they can escape before you subject them to any unpleasant procedures like ear tagging or shearing.
• If you have badly designed handling facilities that cannot be fixed – keep a “Judas” sheep to lead the doubters through.
• You can easily train a Judas with some pellets, or a pet lamb will do the job. Just make sure it doesn’t get onto the sale truck without you knowing. Many a Judas sheep has ended its days by accident like this. It’s not a bad idea to cover it in bright-coloured raddle or copy ancient tradition and put a bell around its neck – a bell wether.
  

Clever design: door to block the sheep race which fits inside the
other door so it doesn't impede sheep flow when not in use.

Catching and moving sheep

• Don’t catch or hang on to sheep by their wool as it causes pain.
• To catch them, creep up in the blind zone immediately behind them. But you have to move quickly.
• The easiest thing to grab is the hock, and this is where you catch them with a leg crook. As soon as you’ve hooked the leg, lift the crook so its leg is held well off the ground. Then grab its neck before it gets the leg out of the crook.
• Use a lambing crook – today’s models are aluminium and incorporate both leg and neck crooks. Either grab the sheep around the neck after you have crept up in its blind spot, or hook it around the neck as it goes past you. If it’s doing this at speed then be prepared for a fairly solid jerk and maybe losing the crook and the sheep! Once caught by the crook you’ll have to move fast to catch and restrain it.

• To hold a sheep in a pen or in the yards, place one hand under its chin and hold it with your knees pushing it up against the rails. Keep lifting its head up to stop it lurching forward. If it gets its head down you will lose control.

Restraining a sheep up against the yard rails. Keep its head up and your
knee up against it's back leg.

• To get it to sit on its rear end, first turn its head round to face its rear, then grab its rear end with your other hand, down where the back leg joins the body.
• Hang on tight and move backwards pulling the sheep towards you.

Bend the head back and grab it just in front of the back leg. Pull and walk backwards.

• The sheep’s legs will buckle and it will fall back towards you. Lay it on the ground on its side, and press down mainly on it’s head to keep it there.

Sheep now on the ground where it can be held

• Then quickly grab its front legs and pull it up into a sitting position. You'll have to do this quickly as the sheep may be faster than you and escape or start kicking.
  
• It's very important to find the correct sitting position where the sheep is comfortable and totally relaxed (see picture below). The sheep is being held only by the handler's knees bent slightly to keep the sheep upright.
  
• If you move back from this position, the sheep will be uncomfortable and struggle, and if you move forward it will move forward and escape.
  

Sheep held in relaxed position with handler's knees pushed forward.

• Practise finding the right angle to sit the sheep at, and keep your legs very close in behind its body. You should get the feeling that the sheep is sitting on your boots!
  
• When you find the right angle, the sheep will relax and you can take your hands off and hold it only between your legs. It’s the position a shearer uses before starting to shear.

Perfection! Sheep totally relaxed for inspection,
treatment or for crutching or shearing.

The wrong angle with sheep leaning too far back. It's clearly
uncomfortable and ready to struggle, twist and escape.

Handling really heavy sheep

• With a big heavy ram or ewe, you’ll struggle to turn its head around as its neck will be too strong.
  
• Outsmart it by standing or kneeling beside the standing sheep with your head in its ribs, and grab the two far-side feet.
• Give the sheep a mighty pull towards you and the sheep will land on its side in a hurry at your feet. Use that moment of surprise to dive on it to hold it down flat, and then grab its front feet quickly and sit it on its rear. Watch for flying legs when the sheep realises what’s happened and it wants to level the score!
• Or just simply lean down and grab its far front leg and pull. Hang on to the leg and it will stagger and fall down, but you’ll have to be quick to hold it down.
• When lifting small sheep over fences, rock them up and over on your knees, to save your back. Don’t try to lift heavy sheep. ACC figures show that over 40% of sheep farmers have bad backs!
  

Immobilising a sheep
Sometimes you may have to leave a sheep in one place after you have caught it, or immobilise it to put on the back of a vehicle or bike. Here’s a simple trick:

• Take a length of baler twine as it comes off a bale of hay.
• Leave it uncut so it’s really in a loop.
• Tie one end of the loop around the hock of one back leg of the sheep.
• Then tie the other end of the loop around the other back leg.

A loop of twine around each food above the fetlock

• Then lift the loop over the sheep’s neck and it cannot move.

Pull the loop up over the sheep's head

• Lay it quietly on the ground and it will be there when you come back.

• Don’t forget to go back!
• If you put it on a vehicle or bike, make sure it cannot roll off.
• If you don’t have a piece of baler twine you may have to use your belt with whatever personal risks that brings! Align the hock on a back leg with the hock from the opposite front leg and tie the belt around both, or tie three legs together.

This is the best position to leave a sheep in as it can
belch normally and not get bloat

Droving sheep on the highway

• With today’s traffic and motorists’ attitudes to livestock on the highway, this is a high risk business that should be avoided wherever possible.
• Under the Transport Act 1962 and the Local Government Act 2002, local authorities are increasingly brining in Stock Droving and Crossing bylaws that will greatly restrict the movement of stock on a highway and certainly phase out stock crossings in favour of underpasses for dairy herds.
• This is being driven by road safety issues but urban dwellers don’t like getting dung on their cars as they have heard about salmonella and campylobacter present in animal faeces. At least sheep produce less dung on the road than cattle do.
• To avoid any legal problems in case of accidents or confrontations with motorists, you must be able to show that you have taken all due care and not deliberately placed motorists in danger. Be aware of this, as you may have to prove it in court, so make sure you provide large safety margins.
• If you are forced to move sheep on the road, first check with the local authorities (district and regional councils) because their regulations vary in regard to the need for permits.
• You may need to give 10 days notice of your droving plans and also submit a “traffic management plan” and get a permit. This may take some time to sort out and may cost money.
• Local government bodies are concerned about damage to the highway and the verges, and large fines can be faced for breaching bylaws.
• Droving within townships and on certain roads is prohibited and established stock routes must be used when designated.
• If you have to cross a railway, you must inform the railway authority.
• Stock movements are not allowed on the road during the hours of darkness or when visibility is less than 100m.
• Don’t attempt to drive stock too far. About 10-12km/day is a good target distance.
• Remember that when sheep first get on the road they will take off at a gallop and this can be the most dangerous time until they steady down.
• When they settle down, let them proceed at a steady amble or walk to avoid excess feet wear on the abrasive road surface.
• Stock need rest, feed and water at the end of each day’s journey. This will have to be arranged in advance.
• Have plenty of support with people well ahead and well behind with large notices and flashing orange lights to warn traffic. Make sure they wear reflective safety vests and crash hats if they are on bikes or ATVs.
• Be especially careful with the working dogs that move quickly and often get run over. Make them a reflective jacket!
• Expect motorists to have little knowledge of how to drive through a mob of sheep so you will have to be very clear in your directions to help them.
• Do not be tempted to damage a motorist’s vehicle in any way through frustration as experience shows that you’ll generally lose the court case.
• Have vehicle support for any animals that go lame and a first aid kit handy for both animals and humans.
  

OSH requirements

• Your sheep farm and yards are “a place of work” and the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) legislation applies to everything that goes on in them.
• The law says that the owner, lessee, sub-lessee, occupier and anyone in the vicinity must not be harmed by any hazard in the yards.
• So to meet OSH requirements you need to go around the yards and first, Identify all the hazards, then secondly to Eliminate them. If you cannot eliminate them then you are required to take the third option and Isolate them.
  
• A good example is an offal hole which is a hazard that you cannot eliminate, but you can isolate it with an effective cover and fence.
• The key point is that if anyone has an “accident” which is generally interpreted by farmers as needing medical treatment or time in hospital, then the person in charge of operations at the time could be liable if hazards were found that had not be identified and dealt with.
• You have to be aware of risks to people who visit your yards such as truck operators, stock agents or veterinarians .
• Check with your nearest OSH office of the Labour Department for full information. We have got to take this seriously from now on, as we kill and maim too many people every day on farms and court proceedings can be very traumatic and costly.
  

Sheep welfare issues
People and organisations interested in sheep welfare list the following topics of concern. They are not in any priority order.

• Lameness. The pain caused by sore feet, so sheep graze on their knees.
• Flystrike. The agony of being eaten alive by maggots.
• Shearing. Stress caused by catching the sheep and then having a machine run all over its body with the risk of being cut and then pushed down a port hole out into cold weather.
• Shearing. Cold stress caused by losing its fleece, especially in unseasonal storms.
• Stress from not shearing. Having to carry many years of wool in summer heat and often not being able to see (wool blind) into the bargain.
• Dystocia. Problems caused by difficult births so many lambs die.
• Lamb mortality. Lambs lost through hypothermia in late storms which always get TV coverage.
• Castration. The pain of having rubber rings put on testicles or having them cut out with a knife using no anaesthetic.
• Docking. Having the tail removed with a rubber ring or severed with a hot cauterising iron and no anaesthetic.
• Transport. The stress of long journeys in land vehicles, and even longer journeys by ship through the tropics.
• Dipping. Making sheep run through or stand in shower dips or swim through dip baths.
• Swim washing at works. Sheep don’t like having to be made to swim.
• Dog worrying. The panic and pain that stray dogs cause.
• Mulesing. Removal of the loose skin around the rear end of Merino sheep by hand shears with no anaesthetic.This has been banned in New Zealand from December 2010.
  
• Parasites. The stress and poor health caused by both internal and external parasites.
• Untreated diseases. Sheep left to suffer disease without any treatment.
• Starvation. This happens when farms have too many stock and in droughts.
• Easy-care or minimal-shepherding systems. This is where shepherds keep away from their sheep and rely on “the survival of the fittest” principle during lambing. Animals may be left to suffer or die in this system.

In warm dry conditions, sheep need shade