Stress-Free Cattle Handling and Cow Flow CPD. Wednesday 2nd December 2026.

The essentials

10:00 to 17:00 online training

7 hours CPD; limited to 8 delegates.

£300 + VAT.

**This course is also popular with ATTs and others in the vet-led team who are closely involved with cattle handling**

Trainer: Owen Atkinson BVSc DCHP FRCVS, RCVS Specialist in Cattle Health and Production, CowSignals® Master Trainer

“Very practically based and great to focus on cow welfare. I liked that the course has made me think about simple changes that could have a profound effect.” SA

“Excellent content and covered lots of ground. As an aside, Owen’s training style really suits me – it is far from didactic; really diverse, interactive and stimulating. Thanks!” BC

“This course offers something that I have not seen anywhere else as farm vet CPD. The content is practical and applicable yet backed up with science and reasoning. I am now really looking forwards to putting it into practice and passing on loads of stuff to my farm clients.” EN

What is covered?

This full-day online small group training is especially designed for those in practice wishing to expand their skillset and training opportunities: a train-the-trainer course.

Over and above that, this day is useful to all people in vet-lead teams who work with cattle. If you love cows you’ll love this course.

Cow flow affects everything, from cow health, lameness, milk production, farm morale and profitability. By providing you with the right knowledge, skills and resources, I want to make it possible for you to deliver stress-free handling training and consultancy within your own practice. This will reduce stress and save time for your farmers, and it will be much appreciated.

This workshop includes:

  • Reading the body language of the cow
  • Using the cow pain score; the “cow pain face”
  • Using: balance points; pressure zone; zig-zag walking; press and release
  • How cows perceive the world around them, and their emotional states
  • Understanding the links between emotional, cognitive and physical well-being in cattle (and humans too!)
  • Using natural herd behaviours to our advantage
  • Socialisation
  • Handling facilities – building for better. The Bud-box principle – how and why it works
  • Overall facility design, with particular reference to improving cow flow
  • Rules of the collection yard and the milking routine
  • Measuring and improving cow flow in the parlour, including KPIs and investigating problems
  • Case studies and problem-solving exercises

At the end of this workshop delegates will have gained new skills to immediately work better with cattle. This will improve personnel safety and cattle welfare as well as job satisfaction. 

The training includes practical tips, such as how to get a stubborn cow into a crush. It will help you to enable any dairy farm team to work smarter, safer and happier.

This is an under-explored area where vets can add real value to farms. This course will allow you to:

  1. deliver stress-free handling training within your own vet practice
  2. provide practical advice for farmers wanting to improve their handling facilities
  3. offer consultancy on cow flow including during the milking routine

Notes and DVC checklists are provided for you to use in practice.

More testimonials for this course:

“Having done this online training with Owen, I see no reason why every single farm vet would not want to come on this course – and they’d really benefit from it” FM

“Really interesting day. Learnt things I can immediately put into practice and use to advise farmers better” EH

“Extremely informative. Made me rethink my cattle handling for the better” LM

“Everything I expected and more” DM

“I was fascinated to learn more about the psychology of cattle; this was stuff I did not know. Understanding cows’ vision was a big thing for me too” SP

How to book

Please complete the registration form or email owen@dairyveterinaryconsultancy.co.uk to reserve your place.

Register for Course

An invoice will be issued ahead of the training.

Cancellation policy

  1. We ask that course fees are paid in advance. If for any reason (such as inadequate numbers of registrants) a course is not run, then the registration fee will be refunded in full. Other expenses incurred (such as any pre-booked travel expenses) are excluded.
  2. Any cancellations by delegates must be made in writing (email). A cancellation fee of 25% of the total registration fee will be made for cancellations up to 14 days before the course. Refunds will not normally be made for cancellations within 14 days of the course.
  3. Delegates may substitute another person in place of themselves for a course but they must notify DVC of the name of the replacement delegate in advance of the training date.
  4. Please ensure that DVC is notified of any changes in contact details. We ask this in case we need to contact you with course changes. Please ensure your email settings allow our emails to you (and then please do read them!).