Flight speed and agitation in weaned lambs: Genetic and non-genetic effects and relationships with carcass quality

Dodd, Cathy L.; Edwards, J. E. Hocking; Hazel, Susan J.; Pitchford, W. S.

doi:10.1016/j.livsci.2013.12.001

Cited by 15 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…The moderate heritabilities of temperament estimates in the present study are consistent with heritability estimates in adult sheep (0.20, Plush et al, 2011;Dodd et al, 2014) and of other production species, evaluated by various temperament tests (cattle: 0.26, Burrow et al, 1988;0.22, Le Neindre et al, 1995;sheep: 0.28, Boissy et al, 2005;horses: 0.23, Oki et al, 2007;pigs: 0.23, Holl et al, 2010). Temperament heritabilities for different sheep breeds in Australia, using the same temperament test (IBT), were 0.14 for the Border Leicester, 0.29 for the White Suffolk and 0.38 (Blache and Ferguson, 2005a) and 0.20 (Plush et al, 2011;Dodd et al, 2014) for the Merino.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…However, no information about on-farm handling or weather conditions was recorded at the time of testing. Further studies on handling and management that might influence the reactivity of sheep are required.The moderate heritabilities of temperament estimates in the present study are consistent with heritability estimates in adult sheep (0.20, Plush et al, 2011;Dodd et al, 2014) and of other production species, evaluated by various temperament tests (cattle: 0.26, Burrow et al, 1988; 0.22, Le Neindre et al, 1995; sheep: 0.28, Boissy et al, 2005; horses: 0.23, Oki et al, 2007; pigs: 0.23, Holl et al, 2010). Temperament heritabilities for different sheep breeds in Australia, using the same temperament test (IBT), were 0.14 for the Border Leicester, 0.29 for the White Suffolk and 0.38 PM = posterior mean; PSD = posterior standard deviation; HPD95% = highest interval of posterior density at 95%; P = probability of a positive difference between contrasts (0.05 > P > 0.95); Pr = probability of relevant values (Pr > 0.95 indicate relevant results); Z = Z-value of Geweke test.…”

supporting

confidence: 90%

“…The average agitation scores of the Corriedale and Merino lambs in Uruguay were below those recorded in Australian flocks using the same IBT and the same calibration (55: Poll Dorset, 63: Border Leicester, 65: Merino, 62: Poll Merino and 88: White Suffolk; Blache and Ferguson, 2005a; 51 to 54: Merino and cross-bred lambs; Dodd et al, 2014). Although the heritability of temperament was higher for the Merino compared with the Corriedale, temperament can be classified as a behavioural trait with a moderate level of heritability for both breeds.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

“…Temperament heritabilities for different sheep breeds in Australia, using the same temperament test (IBT), were 0.14 for the Border Leicester, 0.29 for the White Suffolk and 0.38 (Blache and Ferguson, 2005a) and 0.20 (Plush et al, 2011;Dodd et al, 2014) for the Merino. Therefore, heritability values observed for Corriedale lambs (0.18) and Merino lambs (0.31) in Uruguay are within the range of heritability values reported for other sheep breeds.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Temperament and its heritability in Corriedale and Merino lambs

Zambra

Gimeno²,

Blache

et al. 2015

Animal

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Temperament can be defined as the fearfulness and reactivity of an animal in response to humans and strange, novel or threatening environments. The productive performance of an animal is affected by its temperament, and selection of calm animals might improve their adaptation to the farming environment and handling, as well as improve productivity. The temperament was measured in lambs of two breeds of sheep in Uruguay. The effects of dam's age, type of birth, age of the lamb and contemporary group (CG; lambs belonging to the same year, flock, sex and rearing group) on the temperament of the lambs and the heritability of temperament were estimated with a Bayesian analysis using Gibbs sampling. Overall, 4962 Corriedale lambs and 2952 Merino lambs from 13 farms were tested. Temperament was measured using the isolation box test, isolating a lamb inside the box for 30 s, and recording the vibrations produced by its movements. The average temperament score (± s.e.m.) of the Corriedale lambs was 24.7 (±0.23) and that of the Merino was 36.8 (±0.45). Temperament was not associated with dam's age, type of birth or lamb's age. There were no relevant differences in the agitation score between lambs born in 2010 and 2011. The mean of the distribution of possible values of heritability (± s.d.) was 0.18 (±0.05) for the Corriedale and 0.31 (±0.06) for the Merino. The likelihood of heritability values to be greater than 0.15 exceeded 70% in the Corriedale and 90% in the Merino. The temperament of Merino and Corriedale sheep in Uruguay is moderately heritable. It is not related to dam's age, type of birth or age of the lambs; however, it is affected by some aspect of the CG.Keywords: sheep temperament, emotional reactivity, Gibb's sampling ImplicationsObjective selection for calm sheep may improve animal welfare and economic performance of sheep flocks. We assessed the temperament of Uruguayan lambs (reactivity to social isolation) with a simple test -the isolation box test (IBT). This trait had a heritability of 0.18 in Corriedale lambs and 0.31 in Merino lambs; therefore, temperament (assessed by IBT) can be considered as a potential selection tool for sheep. IntroductionSince domestication, natural and artificial selection have led to the adaptation of animals to different types of production environments. However, farmers still have to deal with low lambing rate and high lamb mortality (Simm et al., 1996). Artificial selection for behavioural traits in species of economic value can improve adaptation of the animals to production environments. The expression of undesirable behavioural traits in livestock has the potential to significantly compromise farm viability, animal welfare, human safety and labour efficiency (Turner et al., 2011). Fear and emotional reactivity (temperament) are behavioural elements in cattle and sheep, which are heritable and can have genetic and phenotypic associations with reproductive performance and lamb survival (Murphy, 1999;Reverter et al., 2003;Kadel et al., 2006;Turner et al., 2011). In sheep...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

supporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Temperament and its heritability in Corriedale and Merino lambs

Zambra

Gimeno²,

Blache

et al. 2015

Animal

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“…Several production traits were linked to temperament scores: calmer animals have better production parameters (higher weight gain, more favourable meat quality) compared to more temperamental animals (Dodd et al, 2014;Bokor et al, 2016). Temperament is generally defined in terms of the behavioural response to human handling or to a novel environment (Sutherland et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of temperament on milk production, somatic cell count, chemical composition and physical properties in Lacaune dairy sheep breed

et al. 2017

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Effect of temperament on milk yield, lactation length, physico-chemical properties and somatic cell count of Lacaune ewes were evaluated. The investigation was carried out at a sheep farm in the county of Győr-Moson-Sopron. The temperament of 106 Lacaune ewes was measured by the temperament 5-point-scale test (1=very nervous, 5=very quiet) during milking. Furthermore, 42 ewes were randomly selected from a herd of 106 animals for the analysis of milk composition (fat, protein and lactose), pH, electrical conductivity as well as somatic cell count. It was found that the temperament had a significant effect on lactation length and lactation milk production, lactose, electrical conductivity and somatic cell count. Calm ewes had significantly longer lactation (4 score: 220.7 day; 5 score: 201.4 day) as well as higher milk production (4 score: 207.9 kg; 5 score: 193.3 kg) compared to more temperamental animals (2+3 scores: 166.5 day and 135.5 kg; P<0.05). The content of lactose was significantly lower (4.32) in the more temperamental group, while electrical conductivity was higher (4.81 mS cm ). Additionally, significant differences were found in milk somatic cell count among the temperament categories. Calmer ewes had a lower somatic cell count in milk (5.17 log cm -3 ) than more temperamental ones (5.67 log cm -3 ; P<0.05).

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