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Livestock Handling and Safety Livestock handling is associated with risks even when performing routine procedures. Of particular concern is working with an intact male such as bulls. Among dairy farms, 31.1% of injuries were caused by livestock in 2008 as reported by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Livetstock was responsible for 21.7% of claims among cattle and livestock raisers. The most common types of livestock-handling injuries are as follows: - animal steps on handler
- animal slips and falls on handler
- animal pins or squeezes handler against a barrier
- animal kicks handler
Injuries include being kicked while performing milking tasks, horseback injuries, branding, ear tagging, calf birthing, hoof trimming, vaccinating, loading cattle into a trailer and processing cattle. Bulls are responsible for more than half of the fatalities related to livestock. Understanding animal behavior is essential to reducing the risk of injury when working with livestock. Livestock are "fight-or-flight" animals: if possible, they will try to escape a potentially harmful situation; if they cannot escape, they will fight. Avoid pushing cattle and other livestock to the point they reach the fight zone. Appropriate handling requires the use of a safe chute and a calm demeanor. Signs of aggression in cattle include the following: - a rigid stance
- head held high and ears perked
- up-and-down or side-to-side head movements
- stalking behavior (more common in bullls)
- turning to face the handler
Handling requires knowledge about livestock behavior and how to anticipate aggressive signs. It is essential that all cattle working facilities have a planned escape route in case of an attack. In addition, proper handling equipment is essential. Chute safety is another possible cause of severe human injury or death and can be reduced by the folllowing actions: - reduce noise for less stress to the animal and chute operator
- get good body control in the chute prior to getting good head control with a squeeze chute
- all humans not operating the chute control should be clear prior to and before each chute operation
- keep the chute in good repair
- rid the chute area of bystanders
- the most dangerous area may be the alleyway to the chute where animals tend to be crowded with little working space
For more information on appropriate cattle and handling facilities, please go to: http://ohioline.osu.edu/b906/index.htm. For more information on cattle behavior and handling cattle, please go to http://www.grandin.com. Both veterinarians and non-veterinarians have lost their lives to livestock injuries. For safety reasons, we request the folllowing when working with livestock: - a chute system is required: we will not evaluate cattle in the field without a chute
- we will not work in a pen with a bull around: all bulls must be isolated in a safe area
- we will not tolerate "cowboy" behavior when working with cattle: a calm approach is essential to working with cattle
- if at any time we deem that our safety is compromised, we will terminate the appointment
- we do not carry a dart gun and will not evaluate a darted animal without appropriate facilities: veterinarians have been severely injured by sedated cattle waking up unexpectedly
- all horses must have a fitted halter on and a lead rope
- horses will be handled by our veterinary assistant due to safety reasons
- a dangerous animal fee will be applied to your bill if we feel that our safety is severely compromised by the behavior of an animal
Safety is essential to any workplace. Providing services to a large animal clientele increases the safety risk for veterinarians and veterinary personnel. We aim to provide complete veterinary services to our clientele as long as our personal safety is not compromised. We hope that this topic is insightful to livestock handlers and provides the basis for appropriate livestock handling.
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