Simple Trick for Keeping Cattle Calm

A blindfold is a humane way to calm a restrained animal.

by Heather Smith Thomas

Sometimes cattle must be restrained for medical or management procedures, and ordinary restraints are not adequate. There are methods to keep the animal calm without having to resort to tranquilizers that take too long to be effective and generally have too much aftereffect, especially when putting several animals through the chute.

One handy trick is simply blindfolding the animal. Every wildlife biologist knows the value of a blindfold to keep a frightened animal from fighting a procedure, according to Joseph Stookey, a cattleman and recently retired professor from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, Saskatoon, Sask., Canada.

“Wildlife biologists who capture wild animals to tag, collar, measure, take blood samples, etc., generally blindfold the animal as the first thing they do,” says Stookey. “The blindfolded animal is calmer, and this strategy is also more humane than many other types of restraint. We know a blindfold works for other species, yet we ignore it for cattle.”

A blindfold works well for nervous or wild horses. Many old-time cowboys routinely blindfolded a bronc before saddling and mounting for the first time, yet most of them didn’t think about using this trick for cattle. They simply roped and manhandled the cattle because that was the traditional way to manage them.

“For most routine procedures, like vaccinating, putting in ear tags, etc., it’s not necessary to use a blindfold, but for painful things that take a while, a blindfold can be very helpful,” Stookey says.

The animals are calmer and less likely to struggle or try to escape. Their best defense is to hold still when they can’t see, not knowing what they might run into.

“It takes the people out of the equation. The animal can’t see movement or the people doing things around them. If you have to do a C-section or apply a tattoo, or treat an abscess or a foot, it’s not that hard to slip a halter on the animal and stuff a towel underneath the halter across the eyes and face,” he says.

Those animals will stand still.

Blindfolded cattle maintain a lower heart rate. Stookey says in multiple studies with multiple animals, his team quantified how much movement and how much stress the cattle experienced using strain gauges. They also monitored heart rate.

A blindfold is a great tool, but it’s not necessary for quick procedures. Yet Stookey admits if something is going to take time, and the cow needs to stand quietly, a blindfold is very helpful.

Editor’s note: Heather Smith Thomas is freelance writer and cattlewoman from Salmon, Idaho. Illustration by Craig Simmons.

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