PULLMAN, Wash. — A world-famous livestock behavior specialist will teach a two-day program July 11-12 in Moses Lake, Wash., for anyone who wants to learn how to reduce animal stress and increase profitability.
Washington State University Extension Beef Specialist Donald D. Nelson says the Bud Williams Stockmanship School is for anyone who works with livestock, including dairy and beef cattle, sheep, hogs, buffalo, elk, fallow deer, reindeer, horses or goats in confinement or under range conditions.
“It is especially relevant to practitioners of holistic management,” Nelson said.
Participants will learn:
- How to control livestock using only the handler’s position in relation to the animal, without fear or force.
- Methods to improve performance and profitability by reducing handling stress in animals.
- About the flight zone of animals.
- Body positioning and pressure points.
- Getting movement, controlling speed and determining the direction animals take.
- Moving and gathering stock under range conditions.
- Handling animals in corrals and sorting techniques.
- Improved forage utilization by placing stock without the use of extra fences and how to rotationally graze without fences.
- How to re-establish herd instinct.
The school is sponsored by WSU Cooperative Extension. Registration costs $450 per person. For additional information, including a program brochure, telephone Cindy McGuire, (509) 335-2817, or Nelson, (509) 335-2922.
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