A first-generation Texas rancher has uncovered different tactics to improve low-stress cattle-handling techniques for ranches of all sizes.
Kim Jungkind was living the life of a trauma nurse in Philadelphia when her father-in-law passed away, leaving her and her husband the family ranch in Texas. The Jungkinds didn’t have any knowledge of ranching but took on the challenge and quickly learned.
Previous arrangements were made that the other side of the family, who were ranchers, would take over the ranch.
“It seemed to be a good plan,” Jungkind says. “But at the funeral, the experienced ranchers decided to give the responsibility to us.”
She approached ranching and animal behavior with curiosity. After all, her mind was a clean slate, never having heard, “This is how we’ve always done it.”
Jungkind says, “I think being curious is important to gain a really different perspective. There are always insights and new information available, and tapping into those insights can really help your cattle business.”
Her background as an emergency/trauma/heart transplant nurse and artist brought a special skill set to ranching as well.
“Nurses are very good observers,” Jungkind explains. “I just transferred those abilities and started really focusing on the cows — they seemed emotional and curious.”
However, her first experiences with cows weren’t ones that led her to believe cows were either of these things.
“The few times we had been to the ranch, my father-in-law told us to stay away from the cows because they could hurt us.”
Her curiosity led her to try playing music for their cattle, and the results were interesting.
She says, “I tried different kinds of music and watched how they reacted. When I played rock or jazz, they moved away or even ran. When I played Bach, they came closer and closer. They actually wanted to lick the boombox.”
It was the low, soft tones that the cows preferred.
Being an artist, she also hung a variety of quality artwork in the corral. The cows quickly let her know which ones they preferred, which led her to discovering and researching their preference for the color yellow.
“They went straight for one painting of yellow daffodils,” Jungkind shares. “That’s when I started asking why. After some research, I found they can see yellow very well — and they’re naturally drawn to it.”
Jungkind applies these discoveries on her ranch by playing music for cattle during stressful events. An area rancher took her findings with the color yellow and switched to only using yellow sorting flags.
She says, “A yellow flag on the end of a sorting stick catches their attention and creates a less stressful experience. It’s a simple change, but it makes handling easier on both the cattle and the producer.”
Next time you evaluate your cattle-handling scenarios to reduce stress, stay curious and observant of how they respond to colors, noises and human energy.
Listen to the full conversation on the Casual Cattle Conversations podcast.
