By Amy Quinton
A gate swings wide at the auction ring at the Yolo County Fairgrounds. A group of goats and sheep hesitate, then shuffle through. They move as a group; their bodies pressed against each other. Beneath it all is their ruminant instinct of wanting to return from where they came. Rancher Nathan Medlar, with NM Ranch in Auburn, has arranged these gates to accommodate that instinct.
What unfolds here is not simply the work of moving animals from one place to another. It is part of a broader effort shaped by UC Davis researchers, veterinarians and alumni — a network carrying animal welfare science out of classrooms and into the field. Their work rests on a simple premise: If you understand how livestock perceive the world, you can improve their welfare and make the work safer and more efficient for the people who raise them.
Designing for the animal
Medlar demonstrated that science at an event called “Goats and Gates,” organized by the nonprofit Kinder Ground, which was co-founded by UC Davis animal scientist Cassandra Tucker and Jen Walker ’94, D.V.M. ’00, a herd health veterinarian. Medlar showed off a new piece of equipment called a bulk handler. At some point, every animal must be held still for health exams. That can be especially difficult with goats.
“The bigger the goat gets, they can get pretty rambunctious if you handle them incorrectly,” said Medlar. “They’ll jump over fences.”
UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine livestock veterinarian Fauna Smith has seen it many times.
Source : ucdavis.edu