The Battle of Conflicting Instincts

While sometimes frustrating, I peruse through a lot of articles and videos on stockmanship, not for the education as much as trying to figure out how to describe things I do different. In doing so I came across a statement by one of the better known low stress stockmanship instructors which set off the old light bulb.

"Cattle don’t perceive there is or will be a release of pressure. Or pressure is coming from multiple spots around them at the same time."

 We are so busy figuring out when to apply or release pressure that we don't recognize that cattle are continually looking for the release of pressure, and when they don't recognize it, react to us in ways we consider "wrong."  To this (and in response to "pressure is coming from multiple spots around them" ) we need to add There are times we are placing pressures on cattle without realizing it.

We seldom acknowledge the fact we are neither solely a predator or solely a prey animal. This becomes a problem when we are working cattle because (no matter how much we try not to) we focus on what reactions cattle should have from the point of a predator, and not a prey animal. As such we don't recognize behaviors such as quitting the herd or refusing to go through a gate as the animal responding to too much pressure and recognizing where the release from pressure is.

Our reaction is that we need to get ahead of them to "get their eye" and put enough pressure on them to turn or stop them. We forget that the general rule of cattle slowing down when we are going in the same direction only works if and when our position isn't in the predatory mode of pursuing prey.

When it comes down to it, humans react much the same way. We react to having too much pressure in a variety of ways. This can vary from being indecisive, to becoming agitated and angry, to freezing up like a deer in the headlights. Just like a cow, our prey instincts kick in and we try to get away from it in various ways. We may freeze like a deer in the headlights, or we may be like a bull on the fight and go on the attack...or we may be like the cow in the gate and just leave. 

This tendency to looking for a release from pressure is why stockmanship methods using indirect pressure works so well. For instance, when trying to force a cow out of the feed pen and into the alley, the cow is concentrated on the source of pressure while thinking the release is where you picked it up from. As such it doesn't recognize the gate as the point of release, and keeps fighting to get back to it's safe place. By relieving pressure towards the gate and riding away from it, you have shifted your pressure towards her perceived point of release which shifts her into looking for a new point of release, which just happens to be the gate.

Once you begin to recognize how cattle perceive the your (or your horse's) body angle in relationship to your approach, you will be able to have cattle seeking the place you want them to go as their "point of release." We are able to take this to the degree of rebooting herd instinct, not because we are forcing the issue, but because the relief of stress creates the herd as their point of release.

For more videos, information on stockmanship, regenerative grazing,  as well as schools and clinics, visit   
http://migratorygrazing.com/

The Natural Way To Start Cattle With The Least Amount Of Stress

 It disturbs me when I see people writing articles on how to "properly" start cattle when they have attempted (and failed) to reboot herd instinct after asking for (and ignoring) my advice on the matter.

With that in mind, it is time to repost the following two videos. 

The first video is an animation which explains why there is stress in what many consider to be the "proper" way to start cattle, as well as the lower stress way of starting from the direction you want the cattle to go, and drawing them. 

The second video shows a group of cattle starting naturally on their own, along with a clip of me starting a group from the direction I'm wanting them to go. You will probably notice in the second video only one pass was made to start the cattle, making it less work on you as well as less stress on the cattle. For more videos and information on stockmanship and IMG (Instinctive Migratory Grazing) visit my website.

Cows Are Cows No Matter What "Special Circumstances" There Are

Cows are cows. No matter where you go in the world, people will use their terrain or genetics as the reason why they "have" to do things the way they do.  In the last couple of weeks I was privileged to give IMG schools at the Flying W Ranch out of Cedar Point, Kansas a second one on the Justin Rader Ranch for the Hemphill County Agrilife Committee. While the two operations were completely different, the herd instinct was close enough to complete in both herds that the ranchers should have no problem going forward, in spite of the fact the cattle were handled in the same way on both ranches.

The Flying W herd was in just over 2,000 acres, with several dams, and also draws with water. In day one, the herd was scattered, and would graze between stands of ironweed, ragweed, sumac, and locust without eating the grass within these stands, let alone browse the actual plants. By the last day, not only were the cattle grazing the grass in these weeds, they were also browsing them, as evidenced in this picture of where they bedded down on the 4th night.

At the end of the school we sent the cattle down a draw containing a lot of brush and weeds. They dropped into the draw and grazed their way to the other end, eating not only grass, but also brush and weeds. Although there were only 120 pair in this herd, the added density from their herd behavior increased the herd impact from a previous estimate of 10,000 pounds per acre to between 100,000 and 200,000 pounds per acre (depending on density of feed to pull the cattle together)

When the cattle were done with this draw, they began grazing back up the side of the hill, and for one last practice of taking cattle through the brush, we sent them through the top end of the draw and on a grazing path down the fence, where we ended the school. It is now going to be a simple process of placing the cattle to graze on the paths they want within the pasture to prevent re-grazing from taking place.

The second school outside Canadian, Texas was a completely different scenario. I stopped by the ranch to check on the situation on my way to the Flying W. The owner had begun multi paddock grazing and informed me that his cattle were drinking at noon and six pm (which I thought was an odd watering schedule.) The morning of my visit there were cows and calves in the waterlot, with cows outside the waterlot, and many (if not most) of the cows bawling, despite the fact no one was doing anything with them. After a few minutes, the cattle in the waterlot left to lay down and ruminate, while the rest of the cattle scattered out across their 20 acre paddock to resume grazing, as shown in the picture below.

They had turned the cattle into the 30 acre (CRP)paddock we would be working in the evening before the school began. Despite the fact the cattle had only been in the previous 30 acre paddock two days, they had already begun to take a second bite from plants while avoiding others as in the following picture.

While the cattle responded to the change in handling as the previous set in Kansas, there was a problem in getting them synchronized as a herd into drinking at the same time. The portable system only had a 40 gallon storage with a 10 gpm flow which meant the cattle were going to water at least 8 times a day. On the third day we turned off this system, and ran a hotwire across the end of the previous pasture so we could take them to it through the pens. On the fourth day they dropped from 8 times to water to one, with a few cows in between going to water on their own, yet returning to the herd. On the 5th morning when we were ready to change to the next 30 acre paddock, there was very little evidence of second bites being taken, as in the next picture. 

We had a concern when turning cattle into the next pasture that they might start re-grazing the first pasture as (on top of not being synchronized on a drinking schedule) they were having to go back through the first pasture to water, and past the only shade tree available. However the next morning, this is how they were grazing when I left.

After three days of travelling back and forth to water with no supervision the cattle began hanging up at the shade tree in the first pasture, then started back grazing, looser than desired but still following each other around the pasture. All in all, in spite of the lack of synchronization on water this wasn't a bad start. The next few pastures the cattle will not have to pass back through a pasture to water, and will have enough capacity for them to all water at one time. In the case the cattle are still not synchronized on water, after weaning he will be able to drylot the cattle for a day to take care of that problem. After that, it won't take much effort to complete herd instinct to the point they will migrate around his pastures to maximize his herd impact.

On an added note, a student from the Flying W school went home and successfully instilled herd instinct into the cattle he is working with. He let me know that because of the changes he has made in his techniques, that his last pasture move went smoother and easier by himself than it did when he had four people helping him.

Three different situations, with three different set of cows, all with different "problems," yet there was scarcely a difference in their end behavior. That is because cows are cows, and when you treat them right, the problems fade away. 

For more information, visit my website.  

How Important is "Non-selective Grazing?"

Many of the grazing gurus of the planned grazing methods make a big issue over needing cattle to graze in a non-selective manner. I have to admit, I've done my share to add to the confusion, so now it is time to (try) and clear up the muddy waters.

Much of our feeling that selective grazing is bad is due to the ultra-selectivity used by cattle in a set stock situation. They get so selective that they go back and re-graze individual plants they grazed a couple of weeks earlier, so that those plants never get a chance to fully recover, while they completely ignore plants of the same variety only inches away. As a result, fewer plants are able to reach some semblance of a full recovery.

The cycle starts again the following growing season with those plants which "fully recovered" greening up first, followed by the surviving overgrazed plants, with those which were not grazed greening up last.  These  plants which were not grazed the previous year will very likely go un-grazed again and begin to oxidize and slowly die, a blade or two at a time.  The cycle repeats with plants being either over grazed or under grazed until weeds start appearing as the grass dies off.

While this overly selective grazing is a bad thing, a certain amount of selective grazing is actually necessary. Different grasses and browse plants mature and are ready to be grazed at different times. In our efforts to mimic the wild herds we have forgotten this aspect, as well as the fact that the large wild herds have always come together and fallen apart depending on the time of year, and abundance of feed and water. While high animal density and non-selective grazing is beneficial while grazing irrigated pasture, under range conditions we need to know when to use it, and have the flexibility to to adjust for those times when, nutritionally, the cattle to be highly concentrated or slightly spread out to take advantage of the higher quality forage which may not be highly concentrated, especially on desertified, degenerated rangeland.

A good example would be a pasture which has a large stand of tabosa or alkali sacaton in part of it while other parts of the pasture is made up of a variety of sparse grasses and browse. I order to get optimal nutritional benefit of the tabosa and alkali sacaton, the cattle will need to be highly concentrated. In conditions where there is a large mono culture (or a wide diversity of plants ready to be grazed) we are looking for, and need them to practice non-selective grazing.

In these conditions, if their herd instinct has been rebooted, they will close together in strips. Unlike when they are being forced into non-selective grazing with fences, the cattle will not graze to the ground, but leave half to two thirds of the plant. Leaving half to two thirds of the plants allows for faster recovery of the plants, and overall, more animal grazing days per acre, and a higher average daily gain on cattle.

Conversely,  when the cattle are grazing a minimal pasture it is highly unlikely that one will be able to accurately judge the amount of feed the cattle will receive.  There is a 90%+ probability that cattle being forced into non-selective grazing under these conditions will lose weight instead of gain, even if protein supplements are added.  Rebooting herd instinct and placing cattle to migrate these marginal areas will allow them to select enough of the plants they need to maintain condition while making enough impact to begin regenerating the soil and grass. Even if feed density requires that the cattle migrate through fifty or even a hundred feet apart, it is still more than enough impact to stimulate the microorganisms in the soil and new forage growth.

In nature, the "large herds of herbivores" we are trying to mimic only occur for a short amount of time each year; when there is enough grass and water for the herds to habitat in an ultra high density. The rest of they year they are scattered to fit feed and water availability, while selectively grazing plants with the highest nutritional value. In nature, availability of water will play at least a big of factor in herd size as feed. By providing an adequate water supply year round, we are allowing them to stay closer together, actually creating more positive animal impact to the soil biology than in nature.

By allowing cattle to graze selectively while migrating through pastures during the dormant season, we are actually creating the conditions to regenerate cool season browse and grasses. At the same time, rather than forcing them to graze non-selectively, your cattle come closer to meeting their nutritional requirements, lowering, or even eliminating the need for supplemental feeding.


Determining when you need the cattle to practice non-selective grazing, or spread out and graze selectively is simple once their instinct to act as a herd is rebooted. They will tell you what is needed as they are grazing. All you have to do is place them on their grazing path and they will instinctively do the rest on their own as you migrate them through your grazing plan.

Over Halfway to Goal for Drone Based Stockmanship Video!

We are just over half way to the $7,000 goal to produce the professionally filmed and edited, drone based stockmanship video! This will be the first stockmansip video of its kind. Techniques will be described, then demonstrated several times, filmed by the drone at an angle viewers will be able to actually see exactly what the stockman is doing, as well as how the cattle react, with no distractions. Once the techniques have been covered, the drone will follow me through the process of rebooting herd instinct into 300 yearlings so that viewers may observe both the techniques as well as the stages of behavioral changes the cattle go through. Once herd instinct has been rebooted, they can be taken through grazing plans without breaking pastures into small paddocks.

The picture below was taken the second night of a recent school in Mexico. To make your pre release order, click here. There are several sponsor openings available. Sponsors will have their logos and web url in the credits, as well as on the dvd jacket, and will be eligible to receive the dvd's for their own promotions and events at cost plus shipping. If you are interested,  leave me a comment or contact me on facebook.

Herd Building on Jervoise Station (A study of being unprepared for the task)

There are not many worthwhile endeavors in life where one can fly by the seat of their pants without any planning and succeed. The Jervoise project has more than proven that point. Being in the economic situation they are (See my last post) one can understand cutting some corners.

The two things lacking at Jervoise (which are currently being remedied) are water infrastructure and crew. In order for cattle to retain the desire to work as a herd, all stress needs to be remove, and this includes the stress of competing for water. No matter how much flow a drinker may have, if cattle numbers are so great they are fighting to get a drink, the cattle will not remain together as a herd. This was a big problem on Jervoise. The second problem was a lack of crew.

A big part of instilling herd instinct is being able to have all of the cattle head out from water to graze in the same direction as a herd. This presented a problem as we seldom had as many as four people to keep track of over three thousand head coming off of water in a timbered area. Despite that fact, the cattle did act as a herd...until we put them in a situation where they were stressed by having to wait in line for a drink. The problems of water and crew are being addressed and the plan is to try it again after the wet season. In the meantime, here is a video showing the basics of getting a large herd of cattle to acting as a single herd.

Beyond Stockmanship At Rancho Las Damas

The problem I was asked to solve is one of the reasons many cattlemen do not want to try holistic, planned grazing. During calving season the cows would leave their calves behind on the daily pasture changes, resulting in a loss of 15 to 20% of the calves. As it turned out, this was a simple problem to solve. This short (2:36 ) video shows how dramatically you can change cattle behavior in a short five days.

 One of the benefits of instilling herd instinct in your cattle is that it allows you to create herd impact in areas cattle ignore without going to the time and expense of putting up and tearing down additional fence. The cattle in the picture below were placed there the night before, and spent the night because they wanted to, not because they were fenced in.

While what was accomplished with the cattle is impressive, even more impressive is the amount of forage they have created in only eight years, with nearly half of that being under drought conditions. Before beginning their grazing program, the ranch looked like their neighbor's did in the picture below.

This is what most people assume the desert should look like. Because this is what we have seen land in desert regions look for most, if not all of our lives, we wrongly assume this is what this land is supposed to look like. When talking to old timers, and people whose families have ranched here for generations, we discover that the Chihuahua desert was an immense grasslands up until the last hundred years. Then we started building fences, adding windmills and letting cattle "take care" of themselves.

With a change in grazing patterns, it does not take long for the desert to turn into lush grasslands like the picture below. Alejandro Carrillo was explaining how this grass he is standing in looked exactly like the picture above less than eight years ago. His grazing techniques were the only tools used. No plows or seeds planted other than what the cattle have done.

Looking straight down into the grass, you can't see the ground.

However when you trample the grass down and part it you can see how much seed is getting to the ground.

Occasionally Alejandro feeds cattle, or spreads straw to create litter. The picture below is of a spot where he fed a few bales earlier this year. You read that correctly, this was bare ground only a few months before this picture was taken.

The above results were obtained without the use of any mechanical equipment or seed. The only fertilizer used was that provided by the cattle. While looking at this I was thinking of the number of ranches that will feed calves in a set of pens all winter. Wouldn't it make more sense to put a set of foamed, flat proof tires on your pickup and feed them in a different spot every day? Doing that would allow you to put the gains on your calves while basically getting paid to create more grass!

One other thing which has been happening is the reduction of brush and mesquite without using herbicides. As the grasses get thicker, they are literally choking out the woody plants and killing them as in the picture below. Why would you want to control brush by spending money and time on burning expensive fuel to pull equipment or spraying chemicals which are bad for the environment when you can do it all by simply changing your grazing methods?

The amazing thing about all of this is that the seed is already in the ground. All it needs is enough animal impact and a little rain. Alejandro has been consistently adding grass to Las Damas, even through the drought of the last several years. The diversity of grasses is incredible, including the sprangletop he is pointing out in the picture below.

 If you are ranching in an arid, brittle environment, you could be transforming your ranch into one similar to the Rancho Las Damas.  For more information on how to accomplish this, visit Holistic Management International and the Savory Institute. Contact me if you would like to hold a stockmanship school on your ranch.

Forage Improvement Results From Holistic Herding

Back in October of 2012 I began a project of  using low stress stockmanship to herd 460 cows through a 32000 acre grazing plan. During the course of this grazing season, I did a few experiments to see how much ( if any) increase in forage I could get in areas where cattle normally don't graze. One area was four miles from the water source for the 280 head I placed for one day. I placed approximately 180 head to graze up a draw to the top of a long ridge, and let them keep going back on their own. There was another area which was sub-soiled with the Yeoman Plow just before it was grazed.

All of these areas (and more) improved, some with dramatic results. You can see it for yourself in this video!

Herding A Bovine Potpourri

Some people have asked how herding cattle in this way is more efficient than controlling them with fences. For starters, you don't have to buy, build and maintain (or continually move) extra fencing,and you need fewer water points. Using this method on yearlings or dry cows (and receiving them all at once) is much, much, easier than receiving a Bovine Potpourri a little at a time. Despite the challenges, and necessary adjustments the program is still working, and improving.

One adjustment I've had to make is using more than one water point. It seems that these cattle have a tendency to jump in the five foot drinkers and stand there, then break the float on their way out. Once, I saw  a cow standing in a drinker with her calf next to her, nursing (something I have never seen before.) This forced us to designed and install a modification to the existing float guards which will hopefully take care of this problem. While having to work off of more than one water point makes it take longer to place cattle, it has been a learning experience. 

The second pasture in the rotation I  had five water points to work off of. The interesting thing was that, even though the cattle were mixed where they were grazing, they would return to the water point they came from. In the case of grazing associations, this could have some benefits if the herd instinct was instilled in each herd before going to summer pasture. The association rider could place the cattle on different water points, and keep the cattle separate within the same allotment. At the end of the grazing season it would be simple to gather each owner's cattle separately, and decrease the shrink involved with sorting several herds simultaneously (which would in return, increase profits a minimum of 3 to 5% ).

Despite the difficulties this particular project has, it is still working. Rather than spending money on labor building and maintaining (or moving) fences several times a week (or daily), one person spends three days placing cattle where they need in the pastures. Because of the social and physiological differences within this herd, and using multiple water points, placing within the pasture does take all day. If the water system was simplified to a single water point, and the cattle were all the same class, placement within the pasture would take four hours or less (for a total of 12 hours of labor per week.) 

Despite  the diversity of this group of cattle and using multiple water points, we are still getting the desired results of taking roughly a third of the forage and also getting animal impact distributed across the pasture, as shown in the following photograph.                           

 While they are spread out to fit feed density, the following picture shows roughly 100 head working as a herd. Notice how they are all grazing in the same direction. Once we make the next pasture move at the end of next week, we will be able to wean the bigger calves at a set of pens next to a water point. Once the cows have bawled off, I will start all of the cattle up a canyon in the direction of the next pasture in the grazing plan  and allow the cattle to sort themselves into two groups.

Open cattle, older calves, bulls and those in the first and second trimester of pregnancy will pick up and move out easily, while those cattle in their third trimester, calves under a month old and older thin cows with calves on them will take their time getting started. This will make it easier to instill the herd instinct into the cattle and (hopefully) keep the bulls away from the cows which are calving. (One problem with running bulls year round is that 12 to 24 hours before calving, cows change from producing progesterone to estrogen. This change in hormones causes cycling cows and bulls to seek out and ride cows beginning to calve, causing dystocia.)

Getting Feedlot Cowboys On The Low Stress Bandwagon

There is no doubt that the industry leaders are interested in having low stress cattle handling method being the industry norm rather than the exception. I am no sycophantic elocutionist, all I can do is call things like I see them. Unless there is a direct benefit to the average pen rider , cowboy or ranch hand, they are not going to see the benefit in changing how they work cattle. In order to get the rank and file pen riders and ranch hands wanting to excel in low stress cattle handling we need to do two things. First we need to show that low stress cattle handling is more efficient. Second we need to give them a reason to learn and practice it.

The best way to do this is through a series of competitions in realistic low stress cattle handling to be sponsored by BQA, with a sizable reward (as in cash and prizes) for the winners. This contest would entail riding pens just as if they were riding pens at work, only would be pulling cattle marked with paint balls. A model for the competition wold be;

1. Twenty pens to be ridden by each contestant with fifty marked animals to be pulled.
2. Each contestant starts with two hundred points.
3. A point would be subtracted for each animal that breaks out of a walk.
4. Two points would be subtracted for causing animals other than the one being pulled to move faster than a walk.
5. Each contestant would have one marked animal wearing a heart monitor. The contestant raising the hear rate of this animal the least would have ten points added to their score and the second lowest raise of heart rate would receive five points added to their score.
6. If a rider does not pull all of his marked cattle, they will have two points deducted from their score.
7. Rider will also have two points deducted for every unmarked animal pulled.
8. In case of a tie score, the fastest time wins.

While this would not be a spectator sport, it would give pen riders a reason to get interested in low stress cattle handling. If you were to check the death loss and medical costs in any feedlot, you will find that those numbers correlate directly to how cattle are being handled. The less stress being put on cattle, the lower the death loss and antibiotic costs will be. The more stress put on the cattle the higher those numbers will be. The last feedlot I worked at, I asked the hospital crew to run the numbers on all of the pen riders for a year so I could compare them. Between the person who cause the less stress, and the person who caused the least amount of stress, the cost difference was over $250,000. With that kind of losses going on, it seems as if a little prize money as incentive would be a cheap way to get more cowboys on the low stress band wagon.

To learn about my own intensive program for teaching low stress cattle handling in feedlots, visit my website.

Heat Detection Made Easy

Most of us are still calving, but breeding season is just around the corner. If you are running an artificial breeding program, or thinking of starting one, you need to know the best, and easiest way to pen your breeders. Many operations not only make more work out of heat detection than necessary, but also work against themselves and the cattle in doing so. This is evident with all of the stories about how wild cattle are to pen when it is time to breed.

The fact is, that when handled properly, at the proper time, the cattle will almost pen themselves. To understand this, we must first understand the mental and physiological state of cattle when they cycle.

Two to three days before a cow is actually in heat, they become agitated and are starting to think about breeding. They will be in the groups of hot cows, butting heads and riding the cows which are actually hot, as well as others which are close to being in heat. The cows which are actually hot only have breeding on their mind. For the eight to twelve hours they are actually in heat they seldom graze or drink, and ignore their calf in search of a bull. This is the time you need to be penning them, when they are hot and wanting to breed. If you drive or ride through the cattle and mark down the numbers of the cows in heat, then pen them when it is time to breed, you are working against yourself. At this point the cow is tired and interested in relieving that tight bag, eating, drinking, and resting. This makes them harder to find, and because they are tired, it also makes them harder to handle. Penning cattle when they are hot and looking for a bull, or other cattle in heat makes them both easy to find, and pen. The first thing you need to do is to place your breeding pen(s) in an area which is either visible to your cattle, or in an area they will naturally flow to. The pens need to have three sections. One to hold your cattle being bred. A second area to hold hot cows waiting to be bred, and a pen to bring hot cattle into that is large enough to sort off the ones not quite in standing heat.
When you start that group of hot cattle across the pasture they will have a tendency to run off, and of course we have the tendency to try and keep them from doing that. As long as they are moving in the general direction of the pen, don't try to hold them up. They will travel for awhile, then stop and start riding each other again. For this reason you don't want to even try keeping up with them. If you try to slow them down, they will interpret this as being chased and they won't stop. Keep pushing them and it won't be long before they will become irritated and split up. Let them keep riding a couple of minutes after you do catch up. Position yourself so that when you start them, they are headed in the general direction of the pen again. Most of the time they will take off and run to the next group of cattle and start sniffing around. There are many times that this is the stimulus a “silent heat” needs to become visible. Once you are sure there are no more hot cows in that group, start them towards the breeding pens.
When these cattle see the pens, with cattle in them they will make a beeline for the pens. Because of their one track mind at a this point, they will want to get into the pens to see if they can get what they are looking for. As long as you are patient, they will work their way around the pen and actually find their way in the gate. The whole key to making this work is having the patience to let the cattle move at their own pace and letting them go where you want rather than trying to force them. Basically, unless you do something to make them mad and quit thinking about being bred, they will want to go to the breeding pen. One other mistake that people make while penning cattle using this method is trying to get the calf to go with the cow. The cow is not the least bit interested in her calf at this point. Even if left in the pasture, she will not let the calf nurse as she is interested only in breeding and will not think about her tight bag or the calf until she is out of standing heat. As soon as she is let out of the breeding pen she will meet up with the calf at the last spot the calf nursed, or the calf will follow on its own and meet it's mother when she is let out of the breeding box. The only time you need to take the calf with you is if you are in a three cycle breeding season (which will probably happen only on a registered operation.) By the third cycle you won't be finding hot groups, but individual hot cows. At this point your hot cow will stand out because of the number of bull calves mobbing the cow. In this situation the hot cow just wants to get away from the calves. With no company in the pen she will be likely to jump out if her calf shows up. For that reason, you will want to pen her calf with her. Penning while the cattle are actually hot also works better while breeding in a feedlot situation as well. The hot cattle will come off feed earlier than the rest of the cattle and start bulling. At this point it is not only easier to spot them, you will be only working the hot group and the rest of the cattle will be out of your way. It is fairly simple to sort the heifers in standing heat from the bullers at the gate. As you work your way down the alley these hot heifers will actually act as bait to draw the hots in your other pens to the gate. If you follow this procedure and allow the cattle to work themselves you will not only pen cattle easier, you will have higher conception rates from the lack of stress on the cattle. You will also have less stress on yourself and your crew.

The myth of “breed type disposition”

Herefords are thought of as being gentle, while Brahma, Limousine, and Saler, cattle are thought of by most cattlemen in this country as being harder to handle because of their disposition. The fact that they can be harder to handle has more to do with the frequency and methods used handling them than their actual disposition. Now that half of you are ready to tar and feather me, then run me off the cyber range, I have a couple of simple questions for you to ponder.

Why is it that the above mentioned breeds which many of us consider to have bad attitudes, considered to be gentle breeds in their country of origin? If Hereford cattle are so inherently gentle, then why are there areas with a lot of high headed Herefords that streak off across the pasture with a knot in their tail at the sight of a person on horseback?

I started wondering about those two questions over forty years ago. Twenty years ago I had the unique opportunity to halter break the show calves for a big registered outfit. Part of their show string was several Red Angus embryo transplant calves which were full brother/sister. One would think that the genetically inherent gentle nature of their breeding. Three of the calves were out of recip cows which were raised on the ranch. These mothers had been handled half right all of their lives and were fairly gentle. These three broke to lead fast and enjoyed the brushing and grooming. The recip cow for calf number four was a Hereford purchased from a neighboring ranch which culled her because she was too wild. Despite having identical genetics, she was harder to halter break, kept kicking when a person groomed her and ran away with the herdsman several times at the show. Long story short, she had been trained by her mother to be wild and obnoxious.

On the other end of the spectrum, several years ago I was sent a bunch of smooth mouth Santa Gertrudis cows for the winter. We were to calve them out and ship the mothers to the packers at weaning time. These cows came off a ranch where they gather mainly with helicopters. When they do use cowboys the man to cow ratio is usually around 1 to 20. When they came off the truck, half of them were hunting and ready to run over a man on foot, and would challenge a man on horseback. After working on settling them down a couple of hours we turned them out in a small trap.

When I started to gather the trap a few days later, all the cattle ran to the back corner and wadded up. Thinking it would be better to go out a gate and move them off the fence from the outside, I headed away from the cattle and towards a gate. Before making it to the gate,there was the screeching sound of breaking wire and the cattle were out and running out and running.

After only seven months of being handled with low stress methods, three of us penned over 500 of these cows, sorted the calves off the cows and shipped them. The cattle manager of the ranch owing the cows was amazed as he had never seen the cattle penned that easily or worked that quietly.

The moral of these examples is that how cattle are handled (and the frequency they are handled) affects the disposition and behavior of cattle as much as genetics.After working with tens of thousands of cattle, and watching people work them, it is easy to understand how there can be so much confusion on low stress cattle handling and understanding of cattle behavior. Our knowledge is only the sum of our actual experience combined with what we have learned through educational experiences. Until we observe cattle acting as a herd and without stress, our observations of cattle behavior will not be accurate as our base opinions are based upon faulty information.

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