Do You Believe Cattle Have Feelings? I do.

My name is Nancy Dent from Wallabadah, NSW. I have been using Heal with Ease (HWE) products for 5 years. I first started with plans for my family and animals from Eric and Cathy. I then purchased a Farm Pack and with using the basics I was amazed at how much I could treat.

I am really passionate about my cattle having as low stress as possible. We still have to manage our cattle – dehorning, vaccination, earmarking, castration, weaning, cartage and the stresses of the environment in which they live. Our handling of the cattle has not changed just the approach in which I deal with the stresses that they are exposed to.

In the last year, I have been looking at our cattle differently. They have emotional needs and much to my surprise they are quite high. Remember this is only my opinion. Nearly every time our cattle come into the yards they are treated. I look at them with compassion and view the situation from a different perspective – they have feelings. With this in mind, my first choice remedy is an emotional needs one.

Every time someone moves me and tells me what to do and changes my routine I can’t tell you how much it frustrates me and I have reasoning. Do you know how long it takes me to adapt to something new? A long time. The same applies to my cattle. I did not realise how much we were the same.

We dehorned some bigger steers last year and instead of treating those for the actual dehorning that went on, I changed my tactics. I treated them with a grief remedy and then for high emotional needs.

I now treat the cattle we dehorn with emotional remedies every time and I find that our cattle are sitting down after they have been dehorned and are not walking, they are very sore but yet they are calm.

Before I started using HWE remedies these cattle use to walk and walk and bleed everywhere and where very unsettled. The next time we get these cattle into the yards they are calm and easy to handle. Do not get me wrong there are still some animals that quicker than others but I am talking as a whole.

Our cattle went to a local campdraft and the organisers and competitors were happy with the cattle that we donated. The truck drivers said they were easy to handle, they were settled in the yards (I was not there but I was told they laid down a lot of the time), they did not get stirred up when they were getting sorted and they were used for the kids (the kids never got so many scores) and for the Open and when they were getting on the trucks they said they were nearly petting them.

I am reassured that I know our cattle can handle the stress they are put under and it makes it easier to donate because before I used HWE remedies our cattle use to come home very rattled. Now they are okay and I know that I have the remedies to help them overcome the stresses which are emotional trauma and the shock of trucking and the dehydration.

I treat everything – Bulls, Cows and all the followers. I mostly use the remedies out of the Farm Pack as I find them very versatile. I also treat mobs of cattle on our farm. If we have certain paddocks that have heifers we are going to fatten or steers that are going to a feedlot or Woolworths, I usually make a small plan for them. When they come back into the yards for weighing or general handling (sorting or shifting or if they look unwell – sometimes the change of feed can upset them) I treat them out of the farm Pack. It really is no hassle; it is just when they are in the yards. The same goes for all the other cattle. The bulls are usually treated with fertility remedies and treated as soon as they come back from joining.

With just using the basics remedies, in the beginning, I saw our cattle become more settled. Now after years of treating them I see cattle that are easily handled, friendly, love to play and are curious and cope with a few stresses (like campdrafting and cartage). That may sound funny that I say cattle like to play and are curious but when they are content you would be surprised on how cheeky they can become. We have a video of me and my two daughters petting 2 weaners that have never been hand-reared but just curious. The other 144 weaners were not far behind them. It was a great reward for years of treating them.

Nancy Dent

Add on from Eric Tighe, Heal with Ease

It wasn’t until Nancy had the basic tools/remedies that she could see the benefits and address issues before they developed.

Nancy has worked with us for quite some time. At the start, Nancy was cautious with the kits and remedies. As Nancy has become comfortable with her remedies she has increased how often she treats, revealing incredible changes; in how her stock perform, produce and reproduce.

Nancy and her husband James run 350 Charolais and Charolais X breeders. They grow out their calves to feedlot weights and are now starting to feedlot their own cattle. They are performing extremely well.

I would like to thank Nancy for taking the time to put this together for us. It is a sensitive point when you start talking about emotions in stock.

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