Pamphlets Library

Excessive stress during handling lowers livestock productivity. Gentle, quiet handling reduces stress. Reducing stress is important because handling stresses can lower weight gain, reduce productivity performance, and immune function (ability to fight disease).

The Livestock Handling Guide provides information on understanding animal behavior, handling facility design tips, methods for bruise prevention, and loading chute recommendations.

Each year, 80,000 hogs leave the farm, but never reach market. After producers have invested in feed, buildings, medications, equipment and months of care, they perish on the way to market. Many of them could be saved by care in loading, attention to the temperature, a better ride or more careful handling.

Cattle losses during transit are not as great, but more care could reduce shrinkage and help reduce stress related losses. Stresses during handling and transport reduce an animal's ability to fight disease, damage rumen function, and affect reproductive performance.

The Livestock Trucking Guide contains valuable information for transporting animals such as space recommendations, the livestock weather safety index, Ames wind chill indexes, and livestock trucking tips.