Handling Methods and Facilities to Reduce Stress on Cattle

FEEDLOT MEDICINE

0749-0720/98 $8.00 + .00

HANDLING METHODS AND FACILITIES TO REDUCE STRESS ON CATTLE Temple Grandin, PhD

Well-designed facilities combined with handlers trained to be careful can reduce stress on cattle and help improve productivity. Research clearly shows that handling and transport stresses lower both immune and rumen functions. 3, 7, 20 Research in cattle has found that animals that become highly excited and agitated in the squeeze chute have lower weight gains, reduced tenderness, and more borderline dark cutters. 26,27 Furthermore, anecdotal reports from feedyard managers indicate that quiet handling throughout the yard may reduce respiratory sickness. Reducing or eliminating the use of electric prods in the processing area enabled cattle to go back on feed more quickly. Managers also report that careful handling in the processing area can reduce the incidence of toe abscesses. A reduction in psychologic stress probably explains why careful quiet handling reduces physiologic stress. Psychologic stress is fear stress. Reactions to handling and restraint are part of the "flight or fight" response which is a major component of the stress response. Neuroscientists have mapped the fear circuits in the brain and found similar mechanisms in all mammals, including humans. 5, 22, 24 If cattle are unaccustomed to frequent handling by people, being restrained in a squeeze chute is almost as stressful as branding. 21 Restraint is a very strong source of stress. For example, one of the highest cortisol levels recorded in the literature on sheep was induced by 6 hours of restraint. 2 Restraint stress induced cortisol levels up to 110 ng/mL, and normal husbandry procedures such as shearing and

From the Department of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado

VETERINARY CLINICS OF NORTH AMERICA: FOOD ANIMAL PRACTICE VOLUME 14 • NUMBER 2 • JULY 1998

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handling in a commercial slaughter plant raised cortisol levels from 61 ng/mL to 73 ng/mL.18,23 EARLY EXPERIENCE AND TRAINING

At the ranch of origin, training cattle to accept handling procedures and facilities can help to reduce stress. Australian research has shown that training calves to handling procedures produces adult animals that are easier to handle. 7 Cattle that have never seen a person on foot are often difficult to handle at the feedlot. Handlers on a ranch should get cattle accustomed to people both on horseback and on foot. Cattle trained by the process of people walking among them on the ranch are often less stressed at the feedlot. The powerful stress-reducing effects of training animals to cooperate during veterinary procedures was demonstrated in research conducted with antelope at the Denver Zoo (Denver, CO). Trained antelope had almost baseline cortisol (stress hormone) values during handling and restraint. 16, 17 Obviously, it would not be practical to completely train cattle, but some simple procedures conducted at the ranch of origin to train the animals and reduce their flight zones would probably pay for themselves in improved feedlot performance. GENETICS, TEMPERAMENT, AND STRESS

Genetic factors have an influence on stress levels. There are genetically based individual differences in temperament both within and across breeds of cattle or between different breeds. These genetic factors influence the reactions of cattle to situations that cause stress. There are breed-related differences in cortisol levels during handling and restraint. 28 Higher cortisol levels are found in animals showing visible signs of excitement and agitation. Animals with a very excitable temperament are more likely to panic when suddenly confronted with a novel experience such as an auction or a feedlot processing chute. 9, 15 This is definitely a genetic effect. Genetically excitable cattle may be calm and well mannered at their home ranch but may become stressed and agitated in the novel surroundings of a feedlot. Some genetically excitable cattle may refuse to eat when they are first placed in a feedlot because they are afraid of the feed truck or they may not drink out of an automatic water trough that makes noise. Genetically calmer cattle can usually adapt more quickly to feedlots and begin eating and drinking right away. An individual animal's behavior is affected by both genetics and previous handling experience. Cattle that have been handled quietly at the ranch of origin are easier to handle in the feedlot compared with animals that have had previous experience with rough handling. Cattle that have been subjected to rough handling at the feedlot are more likely to become agitated at the slaughter plant.

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Reducing Noise

Cattle have very sensitive hearing, especially at high frequencies, and are more sensitive to high-pitched noise than humans. 1 Handling facilities and equipment should be designed to avoid clanging and banging, and the hydraulic system on the squeeze chute should be engineered to be quiet. It is especially important to avoid high-pitched noise around 6000 to 8000 Hz, because a cow's hearing is the most sensitive at these frequencies. 19 These sounds may actually hurt the animal's ears. Loud yelling and constant whistling should be stopped, and if pneumatic equipment is used, air exhausts should be muffled to prevent hissing. Solid Sides Keep Cattle Calmer

Cattle remain calmer in the squeeze chute and single-file chute if there is a solid barrier which blocks vision between them and the handler. The single-file chute, loading ramp, crowd pen, and squeeze chutes should all have solid sides.lO, 13, 14 The crowd gate should also be solid to prevent cattle from turning back. Solid sides on handling facilities have been used for years, but until recently, squeeze chutes have always had open barred sides to provide access to the animal. Some squeeze chute manufacturers are now equipping squeeze chutes with angled rubber louvres (Fig. 1). The side bars

Figure 1. Rubber louvres mounted on a squeeze chute at a 45 degree angle prevent incoming cattle from seeing people. The side bars can still be dropped down for access to the cattle.

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can still be dropped down for access to the animal, but an incoming animal cannot see the handler standing next to the chute. Solid sides on both the squeeze chute and the lead-up alley also help to prevent lunging at the headgate. Cattle lunge at the headgate because they are trying to escape from the handler standing next to the chute. Covering the open barred sides of a squeeze chute keeps cattle calmer. The back half of the side closest to the tailgate is the most important part to cover. An IS-in (45-cm) wide opening can be left near the headgate so that injections can be given in the cows' necks. Solid sides on squeeze chutes have the greatest calming effects on wild cattle with large flight zones. Cattle also stay calmer if they cannot see other cattle through the headgate. Figure 2 shows a cow's view of a squeeze chute with solid sides and a solid sorting gate in the front of the headgate. This is an ideal system. The animal sees a lighted hole as the way through, but it is unable to see the operator standing next to the chute.

Figure 2. Cow's eye view of a squeeze chute which has rubber louvres to prevent the cattle from seeing people beside the chute. This is an ideal set up because the incoming animal sees a lighted hole for its head but a sorting gate in front of the headgate prevents it from lunging at the headgate.

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Squeeze Chute Adjustment

To prevent excessive pressure from being exerted on the animal, the pressure relief valve on the squeeze chute must be properly adjusted. The animal should be able to breathe normally when the squeeze lever is held down and the hydraulic pump bypasses. Excessive hydraulic pressure can cause serious injuries such as internal rupture 12 or a broken pelvis. Solid sides on the squeeze chute make it possible to hold the animals with less pressure. There is an optimal pressure for holding an animal. The animal must be held tightly enough to provide a feeling of restraint, but excessive pressure causing pain should be avoided. When cattle struggle in the squeeze chute, many people make the mistake of squeezing tighter. Sometimes cattle struggle because they are being held too tightly. Pressure should be released slowly until the animal stops struggling. It is also very important that the squeeze chute have a nonslip floor. Cattle become excited if they slip or feel as if they are going to fall. There must also be a nonslip floor in front of the squeeze chute. The best squeeze chutes have two squeeze panels that fold in evenly on both sides. This keeps the animal in a balanced position. All concrete areas where cattle walk should be grooved to prevent slipping. A rough broom finish is not sufficient. A good grooving pattern is 8-in (20-cm) diamonds made with 1.5 X 1.5-in V grooves. Squeeze chute adjustments recommended for feedlot use may not be appropriate for a chute used for pregnancy checking or testing bulls on a ranch. For these purposes, it is often best to widen the distance between the squeeze sites at the floor level to allow the animal to stand in a normal position. To ensure proper adjustment, the hydraulic chute used in a feedlot should have a hydraulic adjustable bottom. For feedlot procedures such as restraint for implanting or ultrasonography, it is recommended to narrow the space between the squeeze chute sides at the floor level so that the V shape of the squeeze sides supports the animal. This helps prevent it from lying down and choking in a headgate designed to hold the head still for implanting. On ranches where a wider bottom adjustment of the squeeze chute may be needed, a straight bar stanchion headgate should be used. This prevents the animal from choking if it lies down, because the head gate bars do not press on the carotid arteries of the animal. Squeeze Chute Operation

Cattle can be seriously injured if they hit the headgate too hard. An examination of beef cattle carcasses revealed old healed injuries in the animals' backs and necks. 12 These data were collected in a chute with a scissors stanchion headgate. Bruises directly attributable to the squeeze chute ranged from 1.6% to 7.8% of the cattle examined. 4 If squeeze chute

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Figure 3. This new rotary style headgate provides a broader contact surface with the shoulders to help reduce injuries. It consists of two half circle gates which rotate on pivots located in front of the headgate.

operators learn to slow the animals down before they reach the headgate, injuries to the neck and shoulders can be reduced. New head gate designs with a broader contact surface against the animal's neck, which move in the same direction as cattle movement, may also help reduce neck and shoulder injuries (Fig. 3). Neck extender bars on the headgate which hold the head still for implanting often strike the jaw when the headgate closes. Neck extender bars can be eliminated on a scissors stanchion head gate if the squeeze chute operator takes a few extra seconds to back the animal up in the chute so that its head can be held still for implanting. To obtain maximum weight gain from an implant, it is important to administer it properly and to hold the animal's head still, but injuring the animal in the process is counterproductive. Sudden jerky motion of a restraint device causes cattle to become excited, whereas slow steady movements are calming. When a restrainer with solid sides completely blocking the animals' vision was used, cattle walked in quietly, and pressure could be applied gradually. A fully enclosed restrainer in a meat plant used three behavioral principles of restraint: (1) blocking the animal's vision, (2) slow steady movement of parts that press against the animal, and (3) optimal pressure. Compared with the situation often observed in a feedlot processing chute with open barred sides, the cattle remained very calm. If an animal has to be repositioned in a squeeze chute, it remains calmer if the pressure is gradually released. Suddenly releasing pressure is likely to cause agitation.

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Electronic Monitoring of Squeeze Chutes

The technology is now available to electronically monitor how hard cattle hit the headgate. Load cells and strain gauges can be used to measure the force that the animal exerts on the headgate. They can also measure struggling. Data from an instrumented squeeze could easily be fed into the main computer system. The squeeze chute operator and the other people working the cattle should keep improving their technique to lower pressure on the headgate and struggling scores. Doing this may result in better cattle performance, because the stiffness and soreness caused by the squeeze chute would be reduced. Impact on the headgate and struggling in the squeeze chute could be easily correlated with weight gain and feed conversion in feedlots with electronic identification. There is still too much emphasis on speed when working cattle. Electronic monitoring of a squeeze chute would make it possible to put a dollar value on rough handling in the processing area. METHODS TO IMPROVE HANDLING

Excessive use of electric prods is a major cause of cattle running into a squeeze chute and hitting the headgate too hard. Cattle should walk quietly into the squeeze chute. To induce the animals to move quietly, they must be kept calm from the time they leave the feedlot pen until they reach the squeeze chute. Slow careful movement of cattle from the yards to the processing area can reduce the amount of stress experienced during restraint. If cattle become excited, it can take up to 30 minutes for their heart rates to return to norma1. 25 Below are some handling tips that make it possible to process cattle at efficient speeds and minimize the use of electric prods. 1. Bring cattle to the processing area quietly. Cattle should be moved at a walk. A lead horse is recommended so that movements through the alleys are controlled. Excited cattle are more difficult to handle. 2. Never overload the crowd pen. The crowd pen should never be filled more than three quarters full, and half full is best. Animals' need room to turn around (Fig. 4). 3. Use the following behavior. The crowd pen should not be filled until there is space in the single-file chute. Filling the crowd pen when the single-file chute is full results in cattle turning around. Filling it when the single-file chute is half empty encourages the animal's natural following behavior. 4. Use other driving aids. Replace electric prods with other driving aids such as plastic paddle sticks or a stick with a flag or plastic streamers on the end. Use these aids to turn and direct the cattle, but do not shake them violently or make loud noise. 5. Use handler movement patterns. Figures 5 and 6 show handler movement patterns that induce cattle to walk through the chute and enter the squeeze. Cattle move forward when a handler moving in the opposite direction passes the point of balance at each animal's shoulders. To move

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Figure 4. These handlers quietly move the cattle into the chute. The crowd pen is filled only half full and the crowdgate is not pushed up against the cattle. A stick with a piece of plastic on the end is the only driving aid used. Note that the man in the dark shirt is standing back so that the incoming cattle do not see him.

one animal into the squeeze chute, the handler should stop after he or she passes the point of balance of the first animal. Handlers also need to learn the principles of the animal's flight zone. 8 Handlers should only penetrate the flight zone when they want to make an animal move. Otherwise, they should back away outside the animal's flight zone. 6. Do not push from behind. The crowd gate should not be pushed up tight

Point of balance Figure 5. Handler movement pattern to induce cattle to move forward in a chute. The handler moves inside the flight zone in the opposite direction of desired movement and outside the flight zone when moving in the same direction or desired cattle movement.

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Figure 6. Handler movement pattern for moving cattle through a curved chute.

against the cattle. For most bunches of cattle, it should be left on the first notch, and the animals should have room to move. The crowd gate should be used like the emergency brake on a car. Most cattle enter the chute by directing them with the flag or paddle. The crowd gate should only be used on stubborn cattle. 7. Be careful with a lone animal. An isolated animal in a crowd pen may panic and injure either itself or the handlers. If it becomes agitated and refuses to enter the chute, it should be let out of the crowd pen and brought in again with another bunch of animals.

Electric Prod Reduction

The results of a recent survey conducted for the USDA showed that in three meat plants that had both modern curved chutes and welltrained employees, 90% to 95% of the cattle could be moved through the entire system without using electric prods. These plants processed over 250 animals per hour, and the employees could keep up with the line. In two plants with poor facilities and rough handling, the percentage of animals shocked with an electric prod was reduced from an average of 83% of the animals down to 17% after only 15 minutes of instruction. The employees were instructed to stop overfilling the crowd pen and that they should tap an animal on the rear end before using an electric prod. In a feedlot at which the employees worked hard to eliminate electric prods, only 1% of the animals were prodded. Electric prods were banned in the crowd pen and were only used if an animal refused to

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enter the squeeze chute. The use of the movement patterns shown in Figures 5 and 6 helped to almost eliminate electric prods. Approximately 2 weeks were required for the feedlot employees to fully learn the new handling methods. During the first week, handling was less efficient while the employees were learning. Feedlot managers who are patient during the learning period are rewarded with less injuries, less sickness, and better performance.

Distractions That Cause Balking

Quiet cattle handling with a minimum of electric prod use is impossible if cattle are constantly balking. Both visual and auditory distractions make cattle balk and can ruin the performance of a well-designed facility.ll By watching the animals when they are calm, it is easy to detect reflections, shadows, and other distractions that cause balking. The lead animal looks right at a distraction such as a juggling chain, which attracts its attention. To reduce the number of distractions that cause balking, handlers should get down in the chute and look for distractions at a cow's eye level. Chute Entrance Too Dark

Cattle often refuse to go into a dark place. For example, if the crowd pen is in bright sunlight and the single-file chute is inside a building, this may cause balking, because the chute entrance looks like a black hole. The wall of a building should never be placed at the junction between the single-file chute and the crowd pen. Cattle enter a building more easily if a portion of the single-file chute is outside the building. Animals tend to voluntarily move from a darker place to a lighter place but move reluctantly or refuse to move at all into blinding sunlight. At several feedlots, I have observed that cattle movement in the processing area was improved by installing translucent skylights and opening up doors to allow more daylight into the building (Fig. 7). Skylights are especially important if the crowd pen is inside the building. The ideal lighting resembles a bright cloudy day and the facility should be free of harsh shadows. Light-Dark Contrasts

Shadows and bright patches of sunlight cause cattle to balk. They also balk at abrupt changes in flooring type or drain gates in the floor. Facilities should be painted a uniform color, and lighting should be diffuse to avoid harsh contrasts. Reflections off of shiny metal or puddles also impede movement. ll These reflections may not be visible until a person looks through the chute at the cow's eye level. Other contrasts such as a coat or hat thrown over a fence also cause balking.

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Figure 7. The feedlot processing building should have skylights and fully washable walls. The walls in this processing building are covered with plastic coated panels which are the same type that are used in food processing plants. Facilities must be designed so that they are easy to clean.

Moving Objects

A chain hanging down near the entrance of the single-file chute can cause balking (Fig. 8). At several feedlots, removing a hanging chain

Figure 8. The little piece of chain hanging down in this chute may make cattle balk. The dangling chain should be removed to facilitate cattle movement through the chute.

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improved cattle movement. Cattle also tend to balk at one-way flapper gates located near the entrance of the single-file chute (see Fig. 8). These gates should be located at least one body length away from the junction of the single-file chute and the crowd pen. Cattle movement can be improved by equipping a one-way gate with a remote control rope so that it can be held open for incoming cattle. As handling procedures improve, it may be possible to tie all the one-way gates open. Calm cattle are less likely to back out of the single-file chute. Too many oneway flapper gates in a chute can impede movement. Cattle often move easily if some of the one-way gates are permanently tied open. Seeing People Up Ahead

Feedlot personnel need to learn to stand in the correct locations so that approaching cattle do not see them. People should move with slow deliberate movements. Sudden jerky movements are more likely to cause balking. Shields should also be installed so that cattle do not see people up ahead. Moving people usually cause more balking than stationary people. PROCESSING FACILITY Processing Facility Layout

Curved chutes and round crowd pens with solid sides are efficient for moving cattle, because as the animal goes around the curve, it thinks it is returning to where it came from. A curved single-file chute also prevents animals that are standing in the crowd pen from seeing people by the squeeze chute. Another advantage of a curved single-file chute is that cattle back up less frequently. Figure 9 illustrates several different layouts for a curved processing area. The radius points for the curved single-file chute, round curved pen, and wide curved lanes are all located along a layout line. The radius on the round crowd pen should be 12 ft (3.5 m). Crowd pens are inefficient if they are either too small or too large. Detailed information on designs is available. 10, 13 Curved systems must be laid out correctly to work efficiently. One rule of layout is that an animal standing in the crowd pen must be able to see two to three body lengths up the singlefile chute. The single-file chute must not be bent too sharply where it joins the crowd pen. If the single-file chute appears to be a dead end,

Figure 9. Curved chutes are more efficient than straight chutes but they must be laid out correctly. This system is easy to layout along a layout line. The radius of the wide curved line may vary from 35 ft. (10.66 m) which is shown here, to 15 ft. (4.5 m). The ideal radius for the single file chute is 16 ft. (5 m) and the crowd pen should have a 12 ft. (3.5 m) radius.

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the cattle may balk and refuse to enter. The worst design mistake is an absolute dead end. An animal standing in the crowd pen cannot see up the chute even when it is turned and oriented towards the chute entrance. The wide curved lane with solid sides facilitates animal movement into the round crowd pen. It works on the same principle as the round crowd pen and the curved single-file chute. The cattle move easily into the crowd pen because they think they are going back to where they came from. The wide curved lane should be filled half full so that animals can be turned and moved. It works best if the handler works outside the fence along the inside radius. He or she can either work from a catwalk or walk at ground level. If the catwalk is omitted, a slightly lower solid fence can be installed on the inner radius, and the handler can guide the animals by holding a flag over the solid portion of the fence. Sorting Facilities in the Processing Area

Sorting cattle and handling them as individuals is becoming more and more common in the feedlot industry. Processing facilities should be designed to have at least a three-way· sort in front of the squeeze chute. Space should be left in the layout so that additional sorting pens can be easily added. Figure 10 illustrates a layout that provides enough space for additional equipment such as a second squeeze chute which can be used for cattle undergoing ultrasound testing, or as a site for an automatic grubacide dispenser or other devices that may be developed in the future. If this layout is used with a single squeeze chute, it should be moved so that the cattle do not walk through a long straight section to reach the squeeze chute. The long straight section should be located after the cattle exit the chute. Cleaning of Processing Facilities

In large feedlots, the processing building should be designed so that it is easy to clean. It is best to build a small, easy-to-clean building around the squeeze chute instead of building a large open-air shed over the entire chute and crowd pen. These sheds are difficult to keep clean and they are often filled with birds and rodents. The building over the squeeze chute should have completely imper-

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vious washable walls similar to those of a food establishment (see Fig. 7). Corrugated siding installed on the inside does not work well because wash water wets the building's insulation. Spray-on insulation should be avoided, because insulation is impossible to clean. The building over the squeeze should be able to be heated in the winter and cooled in the summer. If employees are given a comfortable clean environment they do a better job of administering implants, vaccines, and other products. The chute outside the building and crowd pen should be equipped with concrete curbs and gutters so that they can be easily cleaned. Welldesigned curbs keep wash water contained in the facility and divert it towards a drain. This makes cleaning easier and prevents a muddy mess from developing around the facility. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Partial funding for research on animal handling was from USDA Agricultural Research Service Project Number 3602-32000-002-08G (Survey of Stunning and Handing in

Federally Inspected Beef Veal, Pork and Sheep Slaughter Plants).

References 1. Ames DR: Sound stress and meat animals. In Proceedings of the International Livestock Environment Symposium of the American Society of Agricultural Engineering, SP0174, 1974, P 324 2. Apple JK, Dikeman ME, Minton JE, et al: Effects of restraint and isolation stress and epidural blockage on endocrine and blood metabolites states, muscle glycogen depletion and incidence of dark cutting logissimus muscle in sheep. J Anim Sci 71:71-77, 1993 3. Blecha FS, Boyles SL, Riley JG: Shipping suppresses lymphocyte blastogenic responses in Angus and Brahman X Angus feeder calves. J Anim Sci 59:576-583, 1984 4. Brown H: The effect of restraining fat cattle prior to slaughter and the incidence and severity of injuries resulting in carcass bruises. In Proceedings of the Western Section of the American Society of Animal Science, 1981, pp 363-365 5. Davis M: The role of the amygdala in fear and anxiety. Ann Rev Neurosci 15:353375, 1992 6. Fordyce G: Weaner training. Queensland Agricultural Journal 113:323-324, 1987 7. Galyean ML, Lee RW, Hubbart MW: Influence of fasting and transit on rumen and blood metabolites in beef steers. J Anim Sci 53:7-18, 1981 8. Grandin T: Animal handling. Vet Clin North Am Food Anim Pract 3:323-338, 1987 9. Grandin T: Assessment of stress during handling and transport. J Anim Sci 75:249257, 1997 10. Grandin T: The design and construction of facilities for handling cattle. Livestock Production Science, 49:103-119, 1997 11. Grandin T: Factors that impede animal movement at slaughter plants. JAVMA 209:757759, 1996 12. Grandin T: Good restraining equipment is essential. Vet Med Small Anim Clin 75:12911296, 1980b 13. Grandin T: Handling of facilities and restraint of range cattle. In Grandin T (ed): Livestock Handling and Transport. Wallingford, England, CAB International, 1993, pp 75-94 14. Grandin T: Observations of cattle behavior applied to the design of cattle handling facilities. Applied Animal Ethology 6:19-31, 1980a

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15. Grandin T, Dessing MJ: Genetic effects on behaviour during handling In Grandin T (ed): Genetics and the Behavior of Domestic Animals. San Diego, Academic Press, 1998 16. Grandin T, Irlbeck N, Phillips M: Training antelope to cooperate with veterinary procedures. In Proceedings of the 30th International Congress of the International Society of Applied Ethology, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, 1996, p 49 17. Grandin T, Rooney MB, Phillips M, et al: Conditioning of nyala (Tragelaphus angasi) to blood sampling in a crate with positive reinforcement. Zoo Biology 14:261-273, 1995 18. Hargreaves AL, Hutson GD: The stress response of sheep during routine handling procedures. Appl Anim Behav Sci 26:83-90, 1990 19. Heffner RS, Heffner HE: Hearing in large mammals-horse (Equus caballus) and cattle (Bos taurus). Behav Neurosci 97:299-309, 1983 20. Kelley KW, Osborn C, Evermann J, et al: Whole blood leukocytes vs. separated mononuclear cell blastogenis in calves, time dependent changes after shipping. Can J Comp Med 45:249-258, 1981 21. Lay DC, Friend TH, Randel RD, et al: Behavioral and physiological effects of freeze and hot iron branding on crossbred cattle. J Anim Sci 70:330-336, 1992 22. LeDoux J: The Emotional Brain. New York, Simon and Schuster, 1996 23. Pearson AJ, Kilbour R, deLangen H, et al: Hormonal responses of lambs to trucking, handling and electric stunning. New Zealand Society of Animal Production 37:243249, 1977 24. Rogan MT, LeDoux JE: Emotion: Systems, cells, synaptic plasticity. Cell 85:469-475, 1996 25. Stermer RA, Camp TH, Stevens DG: Feeder Cattle Stress During Handling and Transportation. American Society of Agricultural Engineering, Technical Paper 81-6001, St Joseph, MI, 1981 26. Voisinet BD, Grandin T, O'Connor SF, et al: Bos indices-cross feedlot cattle with excitable temperaments have tough meat and higher incidence of borderline dark cutters. Meat Sci, 46:367-377, 1997 27. Voisinet BD, Grandin T, Tatum JD, et al: Feedlot cattle with calm temperament have higher average daily gains than cattle with excitable temperaments. J Anim Sci 75:892896, 1997 28. Zavy MT, Juniewicz PE, Phillips WA, et al: Effects of initial restraint, weaning and transport stress on baseline and ACTH stimulated cortisol responses in beef calves of different genotypes. Am J Vet Res 53:551-557, 1992

Address reprint requests to Temple Grandin, PhD Department of Animal Sciences Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523-1171