Help for livestock

Livestock Behaviourist

Debbie Connolly has lots of experience with livestock and has helped many pet owners, community farms and smallholders to sort out problems.

Don't think that pigs, sheep, geese or pigs can't be sorted, they usually can

Advice on stopping your dog or cat killing livestock

Behaviour help for livestock

These days it is far more common to find people keeping livestock, even as pets. In a lot of cases, families believe that keeping their own livestock means a healthier lifestyle and better quality food.

The reality of keeping these animals can be far removed from the ideal, rose tinted version you expected.

That cute lamb, piglet or kid the local farmer sold you (and laughed as you drove away) turns into a hormonal, stroppy teen, escaping to mate and to trash the place. Chickens who arrived laying so many eggs you had to give them away suddenly stop and spend all day pecking at your door to come in. The cockerel now won't let you into the chicken run and your geese chase you across the yard.

Sounds familiar? These are the sort of things we get asked to help with. However much your kids dress them up and you play with them, they remain livestock and however human friendly, will revert to normal behaviour.

It doesn't often occur to owners to seek help as they don't know it exists. This means animals are sold or slaughtered early, or live unhappy, bored, stressful lives which wasn't the point of the smallholding, was it?

Escaping animals are often bored, those not breeding bored and lonely or being fed wrongly. Livestock that chases or threatens you is usually testing its position as it would naturally and owners show a little fear and it is soon out of hand. It doesn't need to stay like this.

We work with you, showing you how to mimic natural behaviour to stand up to challenges. How to feed correctly and in a more natural fashion, how to make enclosures more fun.

Don't slaughter early, give them the life you intended, and yourself too.

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