Use of Stockdogs in Cattle Operations

[terrecar]

I am not entirely clear on the minutiae of details that distinguish factory farmed beef operations from operations that advertise grass fed beef, or even if they are mutually exclusive, so this question may be totally off the mark. However, I am wondering if there is a typical type of operation that uses stockdogs. Do so called factory farms use stockdogs?

[juliepoudrier]

I imagine it would depend on the operation, but I would guess that most people in feedlot operations don't use dogs.

 

J.

[Debbie Meier]

If you are calling a factory farm a corporate owned feed lot, yes some use dogs. We had a 10 month old leave this past weekend to Nebraska to work for an employee of a corporate feedlot, it's a bring your own dog deal, simular to the ones that have the bring your own horse or walk policy.

 

The plan with the pup was to start him out checking the new arrival lightweights when the new owner does his walk throughs. They basically go in and walk through the young cattle looking for anything sick. As the dog understands the job they may use the dog to help move the sick cow to another pen. A littermate to the pup that left this weekend is working down in MO at another lot. The owner said that he has figured out what needs to be done and when.

 

I have no idea as to how many fedlots use dogs, know of more that are owner operated where they are using the dog as opposed to hiring employees, they may also pasture the cattle some or run them on corn stalks in the fall. I would suspect that alot has to do with past expirences with dogs and what there opinions are based on how they have seen dogs used by others.

[Debbie Meier]

Quite a few feedlots in Iowa, this is from an article that was published in the last issue of The Stockdog Journal based on an interview that I had with Curt Travis in November.

 

Curt and his family run a 600 head feedlot, Travis says; “A good dog will replace 5 paid hands, and be less stressful on the cattle. A good dog can quietly and calmly walk a sick calf out of the lots when a person couldn’t do it.” In addition to the feed lot the Travis family also maintains a 200 head cow herd.

Using stockdogs has really caught on in the Travis extended family, “my cousins all bought dogs after seeing how much use they can be.”

 

 

Here is a video of how his dog handled the cattle at a trial

 

http://vimeo.com/31880272

[stockdogranch]

Before the calves are shipped to the feedlot, they are generally out on pasture as cow/calf pairs. Many who run this type of operation use dogs to move their cattle: to gather to check, brand, and vax; move from pasture to pasture; or to trail to and from summer pastures, etc,

A

[Sue R]

Before the calves are shipped to the feedlot, they are generally out on pasture as cow/calf pairs. Many who run this type of operation use dogs to move their cattle: to gather to check, brand, and vax; move from pasture to pasture; or to trail to and from summer pastures, etc,

A

This is what we have, on a very small scale compared to ranchers and livelihood farmers.

 

We calve out about 30 head a year, high-percentage Angus cows and first-calf heifers. We also keep a bull. We do not keep our weanling heifers here as they are raised and bred elsewhere and we get half back as bred yearlings (the other half go to the person who grows them out and breeds them). Our cattle are on pasture/outdoors all year, no confinement of any kind (except for a new pair where the calf or mother needs a day or few in the barn because of a rough start).

 

We primarily use our dogs to move cattle from one pasture to another (we rotationally graze) during the grazing season (about mid-April to sometime in late fall to Christmas); to move cattle to and into the working pens for vaccinations or supplemental feeding or whatever else needs to be done, as a herd or as a few or as a single in distress; to aid in helping keep calves with cows when moving (calves can be pretty silly); to move cows out of areas where they are not supposed to be (Dan likes this job particularly) or back into areas where they are supposed to be; to find hidden calves (Megan's strong point); and other similar jobs. We don't use them in the working pens generally because of the increased likelihood of injury but occasionally we do with younger stock as they are not aggressive.

 

We work dry, bred animals; new pairs; weanlings; and the whole herd as needed. There is not a lot of work but there is seasonal work as well as routine chore work that depends on the time of year.

 

If we were to rent another neighbor's pasturage, the dogs would be essential for moving the cattle up the road and into the right pastures. They have proved their worth just in helping move cattle across roads and driveways, where the young stock tend to balk and the older stock are sometimes wont to wander.

 

Ed might or might not have cattle without the dogs. I would not want to have cattle without their help. Less frustration, less stress, less time spent getting certain jobs done - and certain jobs might not be doable without them. Plus, there is the "personal" interest in the cattle operation that having and using the dogs provides to me, as having cattle is primarily Ed's "thing".

[Tea]

Both yards that we rotate the mobile unit to, work dogs on all stock. None of these guys has even seen a trial.

 

I take all my dogs to work the units when I go about every other week.

[Tea]

another place to see stockmen post questions is on bud williams web site.