Influence of breed and early management on ease of handling and open-field behaviour of cattle

Boivin, Xavier; Neindre, Pierre Le; Chupin, J. M.; Garel, J. P.; Trillat, Gilbert

doi:10.1016/s0168-1591(05)80024-3

Cited by 90 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…However, in beef cattle, scoring during weighing is a frequent test for determining temperament. When cattle's opportunities to move are limited, as in a chute during weighing and milking, this is referred to as a restrained test (Burrow, 1997), the main advantage of which is safe application for the handler (Boivin et al, 1992). A restraint test is able to quantify characteristics like the chute score or flight speed (exit velocity) to evaluate the temperament in response to a short time fixation, e.g.…”

Section: Measuring the Behavioural Phenotype In Cattlementioning

confidence: 99%

Genetics of cattle temperament and its impact on livestock production and breeding – a review

2015

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Abstract.Cattle temperament, which describes individual behaviour differences with regard to a stressor or environmental challenge, is known for its impact on working safety, adaptability to new housing conditions, animal productivity and for evaluation of animal welfare. However, successful use of temperament in animal breeding and husbandry to improve keeping conditions in general or animal welfare in particular, requires the availability of informative and reproducible phenotypes and knowledge about the genetic modulation of these traits. However, the knowledge about genetic influences on cattle temperament is still limited. In this review, an outline is given for the interdependence between production systems and temperament as well as for the phenotyping of cattle temperament based on both behaviour tests and observations of behaviour under production conditions. In addition, the use of temperament as a selection criterion is discussed.

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Section: Measuring the Behavioural Phenotype In Cattlementioning

confidence: 99%

Genetics of cattle temperament and its impact on livestock production and breeding – a review

2015

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“…An animal's previous experiences with handling will affect its reaction to future handling (12,52). Sheep inverted in a sheep handling machine were more reluctant to re-enter the corrals the following year (52).…”

Section: Training and Habituating Livestock To Handlingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review: Reducing Handling Stress Improves Both Productivity and Welfare

Pas

Oldfield²,

Boyd³

1998

The Professional Animal Scientist

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Reducing stress on livestock during handling will help reduce sickness and enable cattle to go back on feed more quickly. Many detrimental effects of handling stressors on animal performance and health are likely due to fear. Practical experience on ranches and feedlots shows that making cattle accustomed to people both on foot and on horseback will produce calmer and easier to handle cattle. An animal's first experience with a new corral, a person, or pieces of equipment should be made as positive as possible. If a painful or very aversive procedure is done the first time, it may be difficult to persuade the animal to re-enter the facility. The following tips will improve handling: move small numbers of animals at a time, do not overload the crowd pen, eliminate electric prods, open anti-back gates, eliminate visual distractions that make animals balk, use flight zone and point of balance principles, and reduce noise.

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“…In studies on (veal and dairy) calves mainly dairy breeds have been studied so far (Lensink et al, 2000a and2000b;Rousing et al, 2005;Bokkers et al, 2009). In beef cattle, clear breed differences were found in terms of temperament and reactivity to humans (Murphey et al, 1981;Boivin et al, 1992 and. Similar differences may therefore also apply between veal calves of dairy and beef breeds.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Evaluation of on-farm veal calves’ responses to unfamiliar humans and potential influencing factors

Leruste

Bokkers

Heutinck

et al. 2012

Animal

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The human-animal relationship is an important component of the welfare of farm animals and for this reason animal responsiveness tests to humans are included in on-farm welfare assessment schemes that provide indicators for this. However, apart from the behaviour of stockpersons towards their animals, other factors may also influence animals' reactivity to humans as observed through behavioural tests, which can add a further layer of complexity to the interpretation of test results. Knowledge of these factors may help a better interpretation of differences from one farm to another in the outcome of human-animal relationship tests, and may provide clues for improving the relationship between animals and humans. The main objective of this study was to identify whether management or environmental factors could influence the outcome of human-animal relationship tests in veal calves. Two tests were performed when calves were aged 14.9 6 1.6 (SD) weeks in 148 veal farms: the voluntary approach of an unfamiliar human standing at the feeding fence and the reaction towards an unfamiliar human who entered the home pen and tried to touch each calf in a standardised way (Calf Escape Test (CET) -score 0 to 4). Questionnaires were filled in and interviews with the stockpersons were performed in order to obtain information on stockpersons, management, animal and building characteristics. The latency to touch an unfamiliar human at the feeding fence was significantly correlated with the CET scores. Total number of calves on the farm, space allowance, breed, environmental enrichment, stockperson's experience and season of observation influenced the percentage of calves that scored 0 in CET (i.e. calves that could not be approached). Type of milk distribution, type of breed and number of calves per stockperson influenced the percentage of calves that scored 4 in CET (i.e. calves could be touched). For both CET0 and CET4, the level of self-reported contacts by the stockperson (analysed only on the French subset of 36 farms) did not influence the results. This paper concludes that according to the tests conducted on veal calves on commercial farms, factors such as milk distribution method, breed of the calves or the level of experience of stockpersons with veal farming can have an impact on the results of tests focusing on human-animal relationships.

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Influence of breed and early management on ease of handling and open-field behaviour of cattle

Cited by 90 publications

References 12 publications

Genetics of cattle temperament and its impact on livestock production and breeding – a review

Genetics of cattle temperament and its impact on livestock production and breeding – a review

Review: Reducing Handling Stress Improves Both Productivity and Welfare

Evaluation of on-farm veal calves’ responses to unfamiliar humans and potential influencing factors

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