We all understand the impact of stress on our lives. When things aren’t going as planned, we just don’t feel like ourselves, and we may not act like ourselves either. Stress can cause us to be distracted, lose motivation to complete normal tasks, and make us withdraw from friends and family.
Persistent stress can cause physical changes like digestive disorders, increased heart rate and fatigue. In short, the impacts of stress can be seen or unseen by the people around us. Similarly, stress has a negative impact on our livestock, but the impact is typically not immediately recognizable.
We see similar behavioral and physical changes in our animals in response to stress. They may act differently around us than what is normal. We can see them go off feed and avoid being a part of their group. Animals that are under stress do not respond as well to vaccinations, may have trouble breeding and will have lower average daily gains or milk production.
It is important for producers to understand what can cause stress for our livestock and how to reduce these stresses to improve animal welfare and <a href="https://bitcomme.com/the-productivity-trap-why-your-14-app-stack-is-rotting-your-brain/” title=”The Productivity Trap: Why Your 14-App Stack is Rotting Your Brain”>productivity.
Some causes of stress are easily understood. We know some of our normal production practices are stressful. Castration, dehorning and vaccinations cause momentary pain, which are all stressful events. Separation of mothers and young at weaning time is a known stress event that can cause the mothers to lose weight and the babies to start eating slower.
Most stressors are not as easily recognized. The biggest stress on livestock is novelty. Animals are creatures of habit. They get used to the same herd mates, the same people, the same locations, the same feed. When we change any of these, we are causing stress to the animal that is affecting them behaviorally and/or physically.
Research has shown sheep and goats will have lower conception rates when new flock members are added to the group near breeding time. The impact of these stress events may be small when they are encountered one at a time, but when we combine them, the effects are amplified.
Once we recognize what can cause stress, we can begin to take steps to reduce their impact. The first step you can take is to limit competition within the herd/flock by providing adequate physical space. This is more relevant when you house animals in barns and pens. You should limit your pen stocking density based on species-specific recommendations.
You also should provide enough feeder and water space based on your feeding strategy. For example, ewes that are fed a specific amount each day should be allowed 16-20 inches of feeder space for each animal, whereas you only need to provide 4-6 inches per head when feed is always available.
Weaning is recognized as one of the most stressful events for our livestock mothers and their offspring. This is a time many producers choose to combine the separation of mothers and young with other management tasks. While this is convenient for us, it piles on the stress for our animals. This is why it is now recommended you perform as many of your animal husbandry practices on the young livestock before you separate mothers and babies.
Several weeks before weaning, you should perform any dehorning, castrating and vaccinations necessary. If possible, you should creep-feed the young animals the same ration they will receive once separated. It also is recommended you remove the moms from the group and leave the young in the pen or pasture. This allows them to remain in a space they are familiar with.
Environmental enrichment is one area of stress reduction that is gaining more attention. We are learning there are items we can add to our animals’ environment that allow them to engage in behaviors that are considered natural. There are documented improvements in animal stress and production by adding species-appropriate enrichment devices.
Cattle benefit from scratching devices. Poultry prefer dust boxes and shiny objects to peck at. Horses like the large exercise balls to play with. Pigs like chains they can chew on or bowling balls to push around. We might consider these silly and unnecessary, but they have been proven to work.
Every producer wants to provide the best care for their livestock. We are often limited by our finances as to the location and types of facilities we have available. If we review our management practices and look for ways to make simple improvements to our animals’ environment, we can reduce cumulative stress and improve animal welfare and productivity.
