When it comes to cattle handling equipment, decisions often come down to personal preference. But what if we told you there might be a better way? Let us give you some insight into how low stress cattle handling and equipment designed to work within those principles can improve your capital benefits and your farm.

Cattle Neck Extender

The aim of a neck extender is to reduce head movement and provide increased neck access. When adhering to animal science and low stress handling practices, the neck extender does not fit into these principles. According to farming researchers, there are many issues that come with a neck extender. Interestingly, while the intention of the neck extender is to provide more neck access, many say that the neck extender gets in their way. The neck extender bars position the animal forward and get in the way the access they need.

A neck extender has an elevated risk of animal injury, such as crushing the cattle’s jaw and potentially their eyes. Not only does it cause instant pain for the animal, but it causes more problems down the road. Unhappy, sore animals are more dangerous for the operator to be around and sore jaw cut feed consumption. These issues are not only harmful to your animals and yourself, but will affect your profitability.

Cattle Crush Head Sweep

A head sweep is a simple, gentle and effective way to hold the cattle’s head in place with ease. A head sweep does not clamp the head like a head holder, it is a straight bar that forces the head to one side to calm the cattle down. Although it isn’t the worst way handle the cattle, it isn’t the most effective. The animal still has the chance of going down. So, if you’re working on the animal and it becomes unsteady and goes down, it can be extremely dangerous for the cow and the operator, and an injured animal may cause in loss of the animal. Not thinking through the equipment you are using and making educated decisions may cost you or your farm.

Cattle Crush Head Holder

A head holder is a sturdy mechanism that clamps around the animal’s neck and holds the head immobile to allow the operator close-up access to the cattle with minimum stress, maximum safety, and ultimate efficiency. Unknown to many, the head holder is the most relaxing head immobilizer in the cattle handling industry. As soon as you clamp the cows head, it automatically feels relaxed, so it doesn’t move around. Instead, the animal stays calm and ready for the operator to work on it. Safe for the operator, safe for the cattle. It’s a smart and easy to use mechanism that makes both sides of the holder happy!

There is a scientific reason why man has been controlling large animals for thousands of years by holding the head with ropes, blocks of wood, etc. Arrowquip makes this so easy to do with the Q-Catch Head Holder

. It is a commonly known fact that a cow calms if its head is up, rather than down.

Watch this video to see what difference it makes: