Animal Restraint Techniques

By Randy Kidd
Published on July 1, 1978
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 Restrain and feed your doe in her milking stand before she's fresh.
 Restrain and feed your doe in her milking stand before she's fresh.
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Pick a large rabbit up by the scruff of the neck with one hand while you support his rear with the other. Aim his kicking equipment away from you!  
Pick a large rabbit up by the scruff of the neck with one hand while you support his rear with the other. Aim his kicking equipment away from you!  
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If you tuck a big bunny under your arm, you'll find it easy to carry him wherever you want.
If you tuck a big bunny under your arm, you'll find it easy to carry him wherever you want.
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Vet-approved fryer restraint. Grasp the animal just in front of the hind leg attachment.
Vet-approved fryer restraint. Grasp the animal just in front of the hind leg attachment.
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Other foul, such as ducks, are also commonly held with their wings pinned.
Other foul, such as ducks, are also commonly held with their wings pinned.
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This goose is being handled gently, but he ain't goin' nowhere except where you want him to go!
This goose is being handled gently, but he ain't goin' nowhere except where you want him to go!
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A common way to hold a goose is to pin its wing against its body.
A common way to hold a goose is to pin its wing against its body.
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The most humane way to nab a goose.
The most humane way to nab a goose.
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It's easy to trim a cow's or milking goat's hind feet.
It's easy to trim a cow's or milking goat's hind feet.
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 A homemade goat milking stand..
 A homemade goat milking stand..
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Two people gently restrain a goat. The first holds the animal's head up and forces its shoulder against the fence with her knee while the second holds the doe's hips against the fence with knee pressure applied just ahead of the hip bones.
Two people gently restrain a goat. The first holds the animal's head up and forces its shoulder against the fence with her knee while the second holds the doe's hips against the fence with knee pressure applied just ahead of the hip bones.
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The first milking will be a lot less eventful if you slowly accustom your doe to the milking stand.
The first milking will be a lot less eventful if you slowly accustom your doe to the milking stand.
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A good way to hold a hog for an extended period of time.
A good way to hold a hog for an extended period of time.
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As long as you hold both hind legs off the ground, the pig is under your complete control except for his squealer. Be careful if his mother is attracted by the noise!
As long as you hold both hind legs off the ground, the pig is under your complete control except for his squealer. Be careful if his mother is attracted by the noise!
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Grab the other hind leg for a solid grip on your pig.
Grab the other hind leg for a solid grip on your pig.
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Catch a small porker first by one hind leg.
Catch a small porker first by one hind leg.
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Or front feet right in the stanchions that they're ordinarily milked in.
Or front feet right in the stanchions that they're ordinarily milked in.
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Push a cow's tail firmly up and forward to disengage her rear end and restrict her ability to kick.
Push a cow's tail firmly up and forward to disengage her rear end and restrict her ability to kick.
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This Angus bull isn't happy (note froth on his mouth), but the metal chute which holds him won't let him hurt anybody.
This Angus bull isn't happy (note froth on his mouth), but the metal chute which holds him won't let him hurt anybody.
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Using a cattle chute is the safest way to restrain large animals.
Using a cattle chute is the safest way to restrain large animals.
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Once a critter is locked into Kansas State's fancy cattle chute, the animal can be rotated to any position a veterinarian desires. Few MOTHER EARTH NEWS readers will ever need anything so elaborate. 
Once a critter is locked into Kansas State's fancy cattle chute, the animal can be rotated to any position a veterinarian desires. Few MOTHER EARTH NEWS readers will ever need anything so elaborate. 
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This is how a bull nose lead is applied after your beed or dairy brute is trapped in a chute.
This is how a bull nose lead is applied after your beed or dairy brute is trapped in a chute.

One of the most important facets of “animal medicine” — and one of the first things they teach you in veterinary school — is animal restraint: the gentle art of getting your “patient” (be it a bull or a bantam hen) to stand still long enough for you to help it . . . or even find out “what ails the beast.”

As you already know if you’ve had any experience with livestock, it’s darn near impossible to inject medication into a moving target . . . and all too easy to find yourself in the way of a swiftly moving jaw, hoof or horn. It’s absolutely essential, then — for the well-being of both the animal and its owner — for an “under the weather” critter to be kept still during treatment.

That doesn’t mean, however, that a young steer — say — has to be boxed, tied and tranquilized before it can be given a dose of oral vitamins. In general, the best animal restraint is no restraint at all. When you can apply treatment to an animal without tying it down (or doping it up), do so! If — on the other hand — you must catch and hold the critter, the idea is to do the job without hurting yourself or the beast. And that, basically, is what this article is all about.

A Word of Caution for Animal Restraint

One thing you should always bear in mind when you’re dealing with an animal that isn’t used to being restrained (and most aren’t) is that flight is a beast’s first response to being caught. Even the most docile doe kid goat can — when she senses she’s being trapped — turn into a thrashing handful of teeth, horns and hooves. The moral: Expect the unexpected. Always assume, too, that any creature which is bigger than you is also much stronger and act accordingly.

How to Pick Up Bunnies

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