ABSTRACT
Reducing handling stresses can help irftprove livestock productivity. For example, research indicates that agitation and excitement during handling for artificial insemination can lower conception rates. Cattle and sheep are creatures of habit and they become stressed when they experience a novel or painful situation. Novelty can be a strong stressor if the animal perceives it as being threatening. Cattle and sheep are less stressed and shrink less when they are handled in familiar corrals. Livestock will shrink less the second time they are transported because the truck is less novel the second time. High-pitched sounds such as cracking whips are stressful to cattle, which are more sensitive to high-pitched noises than are humans. Cattle will often become excited and rear up when a handler leans over them, because he has deeply penetrated their flight zone. The animals respond by leaping and rearing in an attempt to increase the distance between themselves and the handler.
