Drone Operations around Farm Animals considerations

[HISS13]

Hello, I wanted to share with you the forum our post-flight lessons learned.

 

[Thomas B]

Hello, I wanted to share with you the forum our post-flight lessons learned.

It wants me to download it... can you just copy-paste the document?

 

[HISS13]

It wants me to download it... can you just copy-paste the document?

 

[HISS13]

See if that will work for you if not you can also view the pdf on my LinkedIn Profile Justin Heitman on LinkedIn: "Hello, Happy Thanksgiving I wanted to share our Drone Operations Post Flight Lessons Learned. #veteran #aviation #aircraft #faapart107 #dronelife "

 

[buddb55]

As a farmer, I fly just about everyday. Only the pigeons seem to be upset.

 

[HISS13]

As a farmer, I fly just about everyday. Only the pigeons seem to be upset.

That is good to know, when we were pre-flight planning I did not find much information around the topic so, I just thought we would share as to how we approached the drone mission.

 

[Flymydrone]

I have flown many times over our horses and my neighbors cattle and none of them has paid any attention to my (screaming) MA. I don't "buzz" them but I have gone as low as 25 feet above them. No pigeons here, but the crows really hate it.

 

[HISS13]

Thank you, good to know we went down to about 10ft with the cows on this particular farm just to check sensitivity due mainly to the Producer wanting to capture certain shots. and I wanted to make sure we were not going to stress animals or potentially have more inherent safety issues. But, researching what others have done in support of film production and interaction around farm animals I did not find any information about past tips/tricks or cautions. So, I just figured I would share what we did to maybe help or inform other pilots of how we approached the mission.

 

[anotherlab]

That is good to know, when we were pre-flight planning I did not find much information around the topic so, I just thought we would share as to how we approached the drone mission.

I have flown over cows and goats before without affecting them. The goats noticed my Phantom, but didn't lay much attention to it. The cows completely ignored it.

 

[Dkcoats]

I overflew some cattle a few months ago and while they didn't stampede or seem at all alarmed they did casually migrate to a part of their field where my M2P wasn't.

 

[HISS13]

I overflew some cattle a few months ago and while they didn't stampede or seem at all alarmed they did casually migrate to a part of their field where my M2P wasn't.

That is good, we had not flown this type of request before. As we stated on the document when doing our pre-flight planning did not see or find information so, figured we would share for someone else to taken into consideration of what we did or how someone might do the mission differently.

 

[HorseshoeJohn]

I have flown my mavic pro at an outdoor horse show with the prior permission of the landowner and organiser. I have the quieter props fitted, but it still sounds like angry bees. I kept at least 50 feet altitude, tried not to be directly over any of the horses and all but one of the 100 or so horses and ponies showed little or no interest in the drone. One horse got very agitated and spooky and the rider had to dismount blaming the noise of my drone as the cause. When I became aware of this I landed immediately and shut down my drone. I then went and apologised to the rider and assured her I would stay grounded until she left the show. She was as agitated as her horse and was quite abusive to me, so I apologised again and walked away before the situation deteriorated any more. I then went and informed the show organiser what had happened and was advised that the horse spooking was more the riders fault than my drone as it had been showing signs of agitation even before I took off.

 

[HISS13]

That is what we noticed with the horses was at about 25ft they would start move ears and head was well as shifted body posture and the most significant reason I wanted riders dismounted as we checked noise sensitivity. We were running the 8231 low noise propellers but, I am on the hunt for lower noise.

 

[dronerdave]

I've had mixed results flying my MP over farm animals. My buddies horse absolutely went nuts the first time I flew over him at 50'. Perhaps because it knows it is in a corral with limited space to flee from an unknown noise...I don't know. Horses in a large open area don't seem to freak out although they still react to my quad, often just looking up or slowly move away. Cattle might take a look but yearlings seem to kick up and run from my MP. One thing I did notice is after flying over them several times is they soon completely ignore the prop noise. Even my buddies horse calmed down after I made several flights over him. This seems to be true of some wild animals as well. A hawk that hangs around a place we frequently fly at doesn't seem to care about my quad being fairly close but it also will sit and watch cars drive right past it.

 

[Smokieflies]

Thanks for sharing. If nothing else a good outline for planning a mission, if animals or involved or not. And the only animals ever bothered by my drone or the birds flying around and my dogs at my feet (who have caught too many frisbees and balls and want to catch that drone too.)

 

[HISS13]

I've had mixed results flying my MP over farm animals. My buddies horse absolutely went nuts the first time I flew over him at 50'. Perhaps because it knows it is in a corral with limited space to flee from an unknown noise...I don't know. Horses in a large open area don't seem to freak out although they still react to my quad, often just looking up or slowly move away. Cattle might take a look but yearlings seem to kick up and run from my MP. One thing I did notice is after flying over them several times is they soon completely ignore the prop noise. Even my buddies horse calmed down after I made several flights over him. This seems to be true of some wild animals as well. A hawk that hangs around a place we frequently fly at doesn't seem to care about my quad being fairly close but it also will sit and watch cars drive right past it.

View attachment 86867

Great info, as per the hawk that was a concern for us at there is a paired set near the farm we flew and not knowing if the hawks would try to defend territory it was just interesting to me the animal behavior both farm and natural wildlife.

 

[HISS13]

Thanks for sharing. If nothing else a good outline for planning a mission, if animals or involved or not. And the only animals ever bothered by my drone or the birds flying around and my dogs at my feet (who have caught too many frisbees and balls and want to catch that drone too.)

Thank you...yes we have a dog at one of the vineyards we do mapping for and we have to watch him as he tries to play catch the drone on launch and recovery.

 

[AMann]

If you guys do carrot drops with your drone in front of the cattle or horses so they see where they came from you will soon make them happy to hear a drone overhead,
and they will even run towards it. Seriously- it worked with our old loud and occasionally backfiring pickup we’d bring food into the field with, it will work with a drone.

 

[HISS13]

If you guys do carrot drops with your drone in front of the cattle or horses so they see where they came from you will soon make them happy to hear a drone overhead,
and they will even run towards it. Seriously- it worked with our old loud and occasionally backfiring pickup we’d bring food into the field with, it will work with a drone.

That is a great idea and something we did not think about

 

[ScottM2Zoom1]

I have found all animals very approachable domestic or wild if done correctly. I have 956 flights at the farm with every wildlife in vids....undisturbed. My cows love the drone. I blow the flies iff their backs ? The horses are a little more skiddish. But all animals can be cl ou se up shots if done right. Deer, hogs, turkey.....doesnt matter. Seeing you is expexted. If they move away your shot is over. Leave them alone. Common sense.