Mulefoot hogs are a breed unique to the United States. They evolved out of a highly recessive trait in hogs: Instead of the normal two-toed, cloven hoof, they have a single toe, much like a mule or a horse. Farmers in the Midwest bred this trait up for the hogs they used on the islands, because they didn’t tend to sink in the mud as much, and they had less trouble with foot rot.
The breeding population remained small but viable until the 1950s, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers made it illegal for farmers to drop the hogs on the islands in summer. “The corps was beginning to push recreational opportunities of the rivers, and they thought that allowing the hogs to forage on the river islands was detrimental to that goal. Large numbers of Mulefoots were sold for butcher after that decision was made.”
Kevin explains that Mulefoot hogs should still have a place on small farms. “They are very gentle and calm animals. I raised commercial hogs for years, and these are much more pleasant to work around. They are also still good foragers, and they have very flavorful meat. Mulefoots grow a little slower than the modern breeds, but they do make comparable size.”
Note: If you know of a breeder of Mulefoots or are interested in helping to preserve the breed by starting a small herd, see appendix E, Resources.
Training and Handling
Training and handling really go together; every time you do one, you’re doing the other. To be good at training and handling animals requires both skill and the patience of a saint. Calm and quiet movements on your part offer the best hope of success.
Problems
When problems arise in training and handling, they generally fall into one of three categories: the animal’s disposition, the facilities, or the handler’s interaction with the animal. Each type of problem can be overcome, but doing so takes time on your part.
Disposition. Disposition problems are more common with some breeds than others. Despite their placid, doelike eyes and small stature, Jersey cows are playful to the point of being a nuisance at times, and farmers and ranchers often call Black Angus cattle “Black Anguish” because of their high-strung natures. Even within a breed, some critters are just plain high strung and more difficult to handle than others. Regardless of the breed you are interested in, the best way to avoid disposition problems is to search out and keep calm individuals as your foundation breeding stock.
Facility. Facility problems are usually easy to correct, and are most often the result of a failure on our part to recognize distractions — and by that I mean the types of things that an animal senses as being wrong. Is there a strange, high-pitched noise coming from a piece of machinery? Are you trying to force animals to move from a well-lit area into a dark one? Is there something in the animal’s field of vision that isn’t normally there? Are floors too smooth and, therefore, slippery for a hooved creature? For all but the most trusting critters, anything out of the ordinary will cause a fear reaction. When a distraction is causing trouble, either correct it or allow the animals time to overcome their fear. Chapter 7 discusses facilities in greater detail.
Handler. Stressful interactions between a handler and an animal are probably the hardest problem to overcome. Handler problems require true self-evaluation, and none of us likes to think we could be at the heart of the problem. Yet most often we are. As Bud Williams (a real guru on animal handling and training) says about trying to control an animal, “Believe that she is responding to what you are doing right now.”
Training Styles
Traditionally, people have tried to manage animals through fear and force. Such methods are counterproductive, though; they will cost you through increased health problems and injuries, reduced weight gain and productivity, and general aggravation on your part. Movies may depict cowboys whooping, hollering, and racing animals around, but that just stresses your herd, and you’ll feel your herd’s stress in your pocketbook at the end of the year.
Getting an animal to go where you want it to go, or do what you want it to do, is easiest if you can make it see the benefit of taking the action you desire. This is the good old coaxing school, and it works with critters just like it works with kids. Not only that, but it’s often quicker, causes less stress, and is far less likely to result in injury (or death) to you or the animal.
About three days prior to our farm auction, the auctioneer stopped by. When he saw all our animals still spread far and wide over the whole farm, he freaked out. “How are you ever going to get all these animals contained in time for the auction?” he wanted to know. We told him not to worry or get excited. To his amazement, when he showed up the morning of the auction about 6:30 A.M. all but four wayward lambs were penned where they were supposed to be.
The lambs had bolted at the last minute that morning when a truck with no muffler drove up next to the pen we were working the sheep into. Once they bolted, we knew we wouldn’t catch them that morning, so we didn’t try again. All together, we penned 5 equines, 36 head of cattle, 45 head of sheep, and about 75 chickens during the evening before and the morning of the auction. With the exception of the lambs, it went very smoothly. We sold the incorrigible lambs to one of the farmers who bid on the sheep, and he picked them up two days later, penned in the barn with a minimum of fuss.
Working Tame Animals
If you’re working with fairly tame and calm animals, simply bribing them with treats is the most effective form of coaxing. We strive to tame down all our animals so they respond to some form of treat: a carrot or apple for equines, a bucket of grain or alfalfa cubes for ruminants, or some table scraps for pigs. Just give them something special, in small rations so it’s always a treat, and they’ll follow you wherever you want to lead them. Ken calls this “training ’em to eat,” and it’s generally quick and easy to accomplish.
When we settled back in Colorado, our first purchase was a pair of spotted asses (donkeys and asses are basically the same beast, just called by different names; burros are a small breed of donkeys; mules are a sterile cross between a horse and an ass). We love any kind of equine, but we wanted asses because the larger ones are suitable for riding, and they make the best mountain pack animals. Duke was about five and very scared of everything and everyone; Jessie was about three and showed little fear. Duke got loose one evening from the small training corral where we were keeping him while we were taming him down, but by that point we’d successfully trained him to eat, so he followed me back in with carrot bribes. No hassles, no injured animals, no sweat! The entire operation took about 20 minutes.
Working Less Tame Animals
With less tame beasts that haven’t been trained to eat yet, you must use some techniques that play on the animal’s natural behavior. An animal’s flight zone is its private space, and by learning how to move along the edge of its flight zone you can learn how to efficiently move it. Animals also have a pressure zone, which lies outside the flight zone. The objective is to move the animal by working in the pressure zone (Figure 5.6). A herd of animals also has a group flight zone, and moving properly at the edge of that zone will allow you to move the whole herd. Bud Williams, who has used his knowledge of flight-zone behavior to move everything from cattle and sheep to buffalo, reindeer, and elk, says there are four main principles to remember about moving animals:
MORE TRAINING TIPS
Training requires time and patience. If you don’t have either, find someone else to be responsible for training.
When introducing something new, let the animals investigate it at their own pace. If you’re teaching a foal to load into a stock trailer, park the trailer in its pasture for a few days with some feed inside. If you are going to introduce a saddle pad, leave it hanging over a sawhorse in the pen for a day or two.
Short lessons, given regularly, are the most effective. Half an hour per day, four days a week is far better than two hours, one day a week.
Reward good behavior. Give animals a treat or a pat and kind words for good behavior.
Stern words issued in a low, deep voice —
not yelling or hitting — are the best for discipline.
Lessons must be repeated frequently, until the task becomes completely familiar. Repetition solidifies behavior.
Be consistent in everything you do.
The smaller the training area, the more control you will have over an animal’s movements and behavior. Circular arenas work best, because the critter can’t get into a corner.
In general, the younger an animal is when training begins, the quicker it learns. Still, the world-famous Royal Lipizzaner Stallions don’t receive any training until they are three years old — so you don’t have to be in a big rush.
1. They want to move in the direction they are already heading.
2. They want to follow other animals.
3. They want to see what is pressuring them (you).
4. They have very little patience.
In Bud’s method, you are simulating a predator’s stalking behavior. This, in turn, elicits avoidance behavior in the livestock. Let’s look at what happens under this scenario in the wild: A lion locates a herd of animals. It begins walking in a slow circle around the herd, looking for weak, young, or old members. This circling action by the lion causes anxiety in the herd, which begins to bunch into a tighter group. As long as the lion’s circle is far enough out from the animals’ flight zone, they don’t become frightened enough to break into flight — they just stay tightly bunched and focus on the lion’s whereabouts. As the lion begins to increase its speed and move in on the herd, though, anxiety is replaced by fear, and the herd enters full flight phase. They run like hell! If the lion is lucky, a weak animal falls behind, and it has dinner. If it isn’t lucky, the herd remains tight and it has to try again another day.
Once the herd has entered full, breaking flight, it will take at least one hour, and possibly more, before it begins to settle down again; when you’re simulating a predator, then, you don’t want to move the herd from anxiety behavior into fear behavior. Your goal is to maintain light pressure — just enough to cause anxiety, but not enough to cause fear. Your movements need to always be slow, steady, and calm, with no running, whip cracking, or yelling.
These techniques take practice and are easiest to learn when you don’t actually have to succeed at moving the animals someplace in particular. They don’t work well with tame animals, because tame animals know you aren’t a predator.
Point of Balance
An animal’s point of balance is at its shoulder. If you are in front of its point of balance, it will back up or turn away, and if you’re behind its point of balance it will move forward (see Figure 5.6).
Gathering Loose Animals
If the herd you’re going to work is spread out in a pasture, you first need to gather them into a loose bunch. Do this by walking in a very wide, slow arc behind the outermost perimeter of the animals. If a few stragglers are off someplace, don’t worry about them; they’ll join the rest of the herd soon enough. Your slow arcing movements will cause the animals to begin bunching up. If you are too far away, the entire group will simply turn to face you, and if you are in too close the animals at the rear will try to cut back around you or begin running. Depending on the number of animals you are working and the size of area they are spread out in, gathering can take from five minutes to half an hour to accomplish (Figure 5.7).
Figure 5.6. The flight zone is the animal’s private space. Cross into that area, and the animal runs. In the pressure zone, the animal will move away but not run. Flight zone and pressure zone vary from one animal to the next, and vary depending on how calm or excited an individual animal is. The flight zone gets larger as an animal becomes more excited.
When working animals, try to stay out of their blind spots, and don’t approach from the front. Approaching near their shoulder from an angle is the best way to safely interact with an animal.
Figure 5.7. When animals are spread out in a pasture and you want to move them, first you must gather them into a group.
(A.) Move back and forth in a wide arc behind the animals and on the far side of the direction in which you want to move them. (B.) The animals will gather in a group to study what is pressuring them (i.e., you). Now tighten the arc, which will turn and move the animals in the desired direction.
(Modified from Temple Grandin, Low-Stress Methods for Moving Cattle on Pastures, Paddocks, and Large Feedlot Pens.
Moving the Group Forward
When the group is bunched and you’re ready to begin moving them, press in slightly. As soon as the group begins to move forward, quit pressing in on them and simply resume your arc behind the group. Too much pressure will cause them to begin running, and when they run the game is up. The continued arcing motion keeps you from staying too long in any one animal’s blind spot. When the group’s forward motion begins to slow down, press in slightly again.
Controlling Direction and Speed
Once the herd is moving forward easily, you can begin changing directions. If you extend the arc to the left, the herd will move right; if you extend the arc to the right, the herd will move left.
Moving parallel to the livestock in the same direction they are moving will tend to slow them down. Moving parallel to the livestock but in the opposite direction will tend to speed them up.
Remember — you are always trying to work just at the edge of the flight zone.
Purchasing Livestock
Purchasing livestock is a major step for beginning farmers. It’s easy to be taken advantage of when you’re starting out: You don’t know about markets, you aren’t a good judge of “flesh” or conformation, and you don’t know the signs of age, illness, or bad temperament. Decisions need to be made before your first purchase: Do you want to buy registered animals or grade animals; do you want to buy young stock or more mature animals? Where will you buy, and how will you transport your animals? And probably the most important question for a beginning farmer: Is the asking price for the animal you’re interested in a fair one?
Consider Your Goals
The price you’re willing to pay has to be evaluated in light of your goals. Registered animals don’t pay! That’s right — the extra expense of purchasing and maintaining registered livestock won’t pay in the long run, so if your primary goal is to make a living raising livestock, buy good-quality grade animals. But if your main goal for keeping livestock is to provide your kids with the opportunity to show livestock, say in 4H, then registered animals may be worth the extra money.
In the box about exotic species on page 45, I discuss salvage value. This is always an important number to calculate: It’s the dollar value of an animal that has to be disposed of quickly. If you’re direct-marketing, it’s the value of the meat you’ll be able to sell; if you market conventionally, it’s the value of the animal on the market at the time you must sell. At the low end of the cattle cycle, the salvage price for a healthy cull cow may be as low as 35 cents per pound. It hurts badly when you have to sell that registered heifer you bought for $2,000, at the bottom of the market, and you’re forced to accept whatever you can get.
If making a living is important in your goals, then stick with grade animals, and really study the market before you buy. Pay the going price, or possibly a slight premium, if you are dealing directly with a farmer who will stand behind his animals’ health.
If you are interested in minor breeds, talk to the producer honestly. Tell him or her that you are really interested in working with minor breeds. Be willing to pay a small premium, but explain that you can’t afford to pay far above the market value. Since most producers who are into minor breeds really want to see their breed continue, they will usually work with you. If they won’t, go somewhere else.
Seek Good Advice
Learning to evaluate good flesh comes with time. See if you can get an experienced farmer to help you look at the animals you are thinking about buying. And read through chapter 8, Health & Reproduction; it will help you develop the observation sk
ills you need.
When spending a large amount of your available money on livestock (say you’re planning on purchasing a whole herd or flock of animals, or you’re considering an expensive, registered breeding animal), hire your veterinarian to inspect the animals prior to purchase. Paying the vet to find out whether you should or shouldn’t make the purchase may be one of the wisest investments you make.
Deal with Reputable Farmers
Initially, purchase your livestock directly from reputable farmers. When you look at their farms, don’t look at the fanciness of their facilities — this is one case where the cover of the book may not tell you anything about the story. See if the animals appear healthy, and if the facilities are relatively clean. Ask them if they will stand behind the animals’ health for at least three days. Some won’t do this, and with good cause: They don’t know that you will take good care of the animals. Many will, though.
Purchasing any livestock at a sale barn (livestock auction house) is a dangerous proposition, especially for beginners. Healthy animals go to the sale barn and come into contact with sick animals. Visiting the sale barn is a good way to study the market but not a good way to buy your animals, at least not until your doctoring skills are well developed.
Consider Young Animals
Young animals require a much smaller investment than mature animals, but you have to grow them out before you have a product. We began our dairy herd by purchasing weaned heifer calves and raising them up. This saved us money, allowed us to develop a good working relationship with the animals before it was time for them to be milked, and gave us time to work on buildings and fences. But we didn’t have any real farm-generated income for almost two years! As with just about everything else, you need to evaluate the options based on your goals, and your pocketbook.
Small-Scale Livestock Farming Page 10
