Humane Livestock Handling

by Grandin, Temple

• ISBN13: 9781603420280
• ISBN10: 1603420282
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-06-18
• Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC

Summary

Temple Grandin, North America's most influential advocate of humane livestock treatment, has spent her life developing stress-free facility designs and standards of humane management. In an environment of growing concern regarding large factory-farming practices, Grandin is a voice of reason explaining the benefits of keeping animals calm through every phase of their lives - benefits that include safer working conditions, higher yields of marketable meat, better-quality meat, and, of course, more humane conditions for the animals. The first half of Humane Livestock Handling reviews the natural behavior and temperament of cattle. Working with the animals' natural instincts, Grandin describes low-stress methods for moving cattle on pastures, paddocks, and feedlot pens. Slow, controlled movement reduces stress and fear, resulting in calmer, healthier cattle. They eat better, are less likely to become sick, and do not run into fences and gates, injuring themselves and bruising the meat. Calm cattle are also far less likely to injure the humans working with them. The second half of the book is packed with construction plans, diagrams and detailed designs for putting Grandin's ideas into practice. Featuring plans for everything from gate latches to chutes, corrals, and sorting pens for full-scale facilities, there are designs that can be used in both large and small operations. In fact, half of the cattle in North America are already handled in systems designed by Grandin, and the demand for humanely processed meat continues to grow. Temple Grandin's systems are quickly becoming the industry-wide standard. No livestock operation, small or large, can afford to ignore Humane Livestock Handling.

Author Biography

Temple Grandin is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Animals in Translation and Animals Make Us Human, as well as Thinking in Pictures, Humane Livestock Handling, Improving Animal Welfare, and The Autistic Brain. Dr. Grandin’s humane livestock facility designs have been adopted all over the world, and she is a consultant on animal welfare to several segments of the fast food industry. Her work has been featured on NPR, 60 Minutes, and The Today Show and in the New York Times and Time and Discover magazines. The story of her life was made into an Emmy Award-winning HBO movie titled Temple Grandin. Dr. Grandin is a Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University.

Table of Contents

Animal Perception

Genetics and Learned Behavior

From Pasture to Pen

At the Handling Facility

Humane Slaughter

Planning and Designing

Construction

Ranch Layout Options and Details

Gates, Latches, and Other Useful Things

Feedlots and Beef Plants

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