Humane handling is a phrase that describes how animals are worked, or handled, by farm employees when being moved from pasture to pasture or when being worked in a barn or a chute. Animals are easily distracted and become upset with rapid movement and noise. Calm interaction with our animals by walking through the pastures daily over an extended period has reduced their “flight zone”. Our cattle typically come when called and need little encouragement to move to fresh rotational pastures.
We limit physical contact with animals to a minimum. We want to avoid stress and keep them in their natural environment. We move our animals in small groups by calling them. We never move them faster than a slow walk. There are no “hot prods” or similar devices on our farm. We never isolate a single animal – our cattle always have companionship. When we have to have contact with them in the chute we give our animals food incentives such as alfalfa hay to entice them. If a cow is dead set on not doing whatever we need, we either wait until she’s ready or turn her loose and try again another day.
Our name is inspired by a river and its surrounding moorlands in Devon, England. The River Taw rises at Taw Head, a spring on the central northern flanks of The Dartmoor National Park. It reaches the Bristol Channel 45 miles away on the north coast of Devon at a joint estuary mouth which it shares with the River Torridge.