How to Transport Livestock

Every person who owns livestock has to know how to safely transport the livestock from one point to another. There are several reasons that livestock might need to be transferred; you might be hauling them to a competition, transferring them to another farm or distant field, or hauling them to market. The reason you're hauling the livestock is unimportant, what's important is knowing how to do it with as little stress as possible.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Trailer
• Vehicle to haul the trailer

1. Devise a plan. Know who will be around to help you load and unload your livestock. Study a map and know the most efficient route. Know approximately how much time you will be on the road. The more time you spend preparing to haul your livestock the less stressed you and the livestock will be. If you are hauling your livestock into another state you will probably need health certificates for each head of livestock.
2. Run a safety check on your trailer several days before you transport your livestock. Make sure all the doors are easy to shut and that all the latches and hooks are intact. Spend some time looking at the floorboards and make sure that there isn't any dry rot or other problems. Hook your towing vehicle to your livestock trailer and make sure that all of your lights work.
3. Make sure that the trailer you are using to transport your livestock is well ventilated. The reason that stock trailers have so many long slats is to provide a constant flow of air through the trailer. Not only will your animals have an easier time breathing in a well ventilated trailer, they will also be less prone to overheating, and will be better able to see their surroundings.
4. Cover your trailer's floorboards with rubber mats. Bare wood floors become slick when they are wet with urine and fecal matter. Animals that are slipping and sliding on bare floorboards are not only going to be needlessly stressed, the odds of them getting injured also increases.
5. Introduce animals several days before hauling them together, if they don't usually live together. The day you are transporting your livestock is not the day to introduce the animals. This is especially true for cattle and pigs that are being hauled loose in a large trailer.
6. Make sure that all of the livestock that is being hauled is healthy and that they don't have any injuries.

Tips & Warnings

• Give yourself plenty of time. One of the biggest mistakes people make when they are transporting livestock is that they don't give themselves enough time. Start early, giving yourself plenty of time will make the whole process less stressful.