Reduce stress by seeing the world through the eyes of a cow

At the end of October, Pollardine Farm in Shropshire hosted the 3LM one day Low Stress Livestock Handling course, conducted by Miriam Parker, a livestock behaviourist and independent consultant. Parker transferred her equine skills to cattle and worked with herders across the world. Her work is influenced by her friend, US animal behaviourist Temple Grandin.

Two hours later, sitting in the lovely Pollardine Farm meeting centre, I’m reminded of that stressful drive when Miriam Parker demonstrates to us how a cow sees the world. The eyes of a cow are on the side of the head. That gives the animal excellent peripheral vision, but for anything to be in clear focus it must be directly in front so it can be seen with both eyes.

Parker hands around a pair of glasses normally used to simulate a visual impairment in humans known as tunnel vision: the field of vision suddenly becomes tiny.

Only by constantly moving my head can I navigate the room and objects that seem to be right in front are actually about 75cm away. It’s easy to imagine how facing a barrier, not seeing a path or passage forward, or the sudden appearance of an unfamiliar object or person can trigger fear.

There are clear signs to recognise anxiety in cattle, says Parker. The tail swishes, the head is raised, the ears turn.

Cows have three ways of responding to fear: flight, fight or freeze. An individual animal will either run, even if that means jumping a fence, or turn and threaten to attack. To do neither and instead freeze is most likely to happen in a ‘race’ - the ‘run’ or alley leading to a crush, says Parker.

In the herd, the animals will form a tighter group, mill in a circle with the dominant animals in the middle and, if the pressure is kept up by a predator or by humans, one or more animals will split from the group and run.

The aim of low stress livestock handling is to move the animals without triggering a flight, fight or freeze response.

To a certain degree, humans, too, are herd animals. A lot of time and money is being spent on finding ways to direct our movements, Parker says, from the enticing smells emitted by the bakery which is located in the furthest corner of the supermarket to draw us in, to the deliberately confusing duty free area in an airport that has us browse shelves rather than find a straight path to the gate. Methods of crowd control in public spaces or sports arenas, too, employ similar principles. 

Just like us, animals have a ‘personal space’. If someone enters ours, we move and take a step back. With cows, the ‘point of balance’ helps predict the direction of movement. Imagine a line across the shoulders of the cow – approach her personal space from behind that line and she will move forward, enter her space from the other side and she will turn – stepping back is awkward on four legs.



It all makes perfect sense on the white board but then it’s time to put things into practice. Pollardine Farm is situated on a hill; the pasture next to the farm house is shaped almost like an amphitheatre and proves to be an ideal teaching area.  As we come through the gate, the 20 or so animals stop grazing and look up. The first task Parker sets is for three people to gather them at the bottom of the pasture. The team quickly discusses what positions to take.

From the vantage point near the gate it is easy to see how stepping into an animal’s personal spaces triggers it to move. “And step back”, commands Parker. It’s this continuous movement, calmly entering the animals’ space and immediately stepping back that gets them moving in the right direction without triggering fear or anxiety.

Two traffic cones serve as a gate through which the next team is to move the cows. When several animals decide instead to come towards us, Parker takes a step forward and stands with her hand raised which stops them in their track and then turn.

“Make yourself big and stand like a tree” she explains the manoeuvre. After just 20 minutes a team manages to smoothly move the animals in a figure eight though the traffic cones. From the gate it’s like watching a spinoff to “One man and his dog”, which in this instance could be called “Cattle, three people - and no dog”.

In the afternoon we take a look at the recently installed crush and Parker talks us through the important points: the floor should be level and have a good grip, so the animals can walk securely.

Good but opaque lighting helps to avoid stark shadows which could spook the animals. And then we walk through the race as a cow would, wearing the tunnel vision glasses.

The width and angle of the race allow the animal to always see a path ahead, the vision to the side is blocked and light draws it towards the chute and then the exit.

“Think of what happens when you leave a plane and enter the airport building, staff want you to keep calm and moving”, says Parker, “that’s why you will be in a tunnel or on a walkway that leads you directly to the immigration area with little to distract you”.

The round holding pens and curved races Temple Grandin designed were first used to reduce the stress in animals entering an abattoir.

But considering how often animals on a farm have to be moved, how often they need to enter a chute, in particular in some areas of England, where cattle have to be tested for TB every few months, low stress handling and appropriately designed chutes will improve animal welfare throughout their lives.

And considering how dangerous and stressful it is for farmers, farmworkers and vets to deal with a panicked half ton (or heavier) animal, ready to jump a barrier or go into attack mode, learning to see and understand the world through the eyes of a cow benefits humans too.