The Influence of Temperament on Body Temperature Response to Handling in Angus Cattle

Abstract

Previous studies have indicated that cattle with more excitable temperaments exhibit an increased stress response. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between temperament traits, handling, and stress-induced hyperthermia (SIH) in beef cattle. Rectal temperatures (TREC, °C) of 60 purebred Angus cattle (30 heifers, 30 steers; 235.2 ± 5.11 kg) were recorded at 20 s intervals from 30 min prior to handling until two hours post handling. All cattle were exposed to a standardized handling procedure consisting of (i) being restrained in a weighing box for 30 s; (ii) being held within the crush for 30 s; and then (iii) being restrained in a head bail for 60 s. Cattle temperaments were evaluated via three traits: (1) agitometer score (AG); (2) crush score (CS); and (3) flight speed (FS) during the handling procedure. Agitometer scores and FS measures were used to describe an AG category (AGCAT) and an FS category (FSCAT) that were used to classify animals into three temperament categories: 1, calm; 2, intermediate; and 3, temperamental. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were used to evaluate the associations between (i) AG, CS, FS, and TREC 30 min prior to entry into the weighing box (T-30) and then at 1 min intervals between time of entry into the weighing box (T0) until 10 min post-weighing (T10); and (ii) the relationship between AG, CS, and FS. The relationship between TREC and temperament traits over the 2.5 h were modeled by using a first-order autoregressive repeated measures model. Flight speed had strong to moderate associations with TREC at T-30 (r ≥ 0.37; p ≤ 0.006) and between T0 and T10 (r ≥ 0.36; p ≤ 0.01). There were moderate associations amongst TREC between T0 and T10 and CS (r ≥ 0.31; p ≤ 0.01). A weak relationship existed with CS (r = 0.16; p = 0.16). There were no associations between AG and TREC at T-30 (r ≥ −0.15; p = 0.84) or between T0 and T10 (r ≤ 0.04; p ≥ 0.4). Rectal temperature, irrespective of sex and temperament traits, was influenced by time (p < 0.0001), and maximum TREC (39.3 ± 0.04 °C) occurred between 4 and 5.7 min after entry into the weighing box. In addition, CS (p = 0.007) influenced TREC in these cattle. There were also time × temperament trait × sex interactions with the CS (p = 0.0003) and FSCAT (p = 0.043) categories; however, time × temperament trait interactions were not statistically significant. Results from this study suggest that cattle with excitable temperaments, as evaluated by FS and CS, have a greater increase in TREC. In addition, these results suggest that a relationship exists between basal TREC and FS and CS. Together, these results highlight that temperament, as assessed by FS and CS, influences both basal TREC and the peak temperature recorded following handling but does not influence the magnitude of change in TREC post handling.

Adrenergic Tone as an Intermediary in the Temperament Syndrome Associated With Flight Speed in Beef Cattle

“…The temperature increase involves sympathetic outflow and can be reduced in rats by beta antagonists (Nakamura, 2011). An SIH-like increase in temperature during handling in yards is seen in beef cattle (Lees et al, 2020). In accord with studies in rodents and sheep (Bouwknecht et al, 2007;Monk et al, 2018), SIH during a threat perception test in Angus steers was enhanced by pre-treatment with the anxiogenic drug 1methy-chlorophenylpiperazine; however, the anxiogenic drug treatment did not influence FS as noted above (Lee et al, 2018).…”

“…The search for proximate mechanisms underlying the associations between activity during handling and measures of animal productivity has found elevated basal cortisol and epinephrine (Fell et al, 1999;King et al, 2006;Petherick et al, 2009a;Burdick et al, 2011a,c;Cafe et al, 2011a), higher basal glucose, lactate (Petherick et al, 2009a;Boles et al, 2015;Williams et al, 2019) and non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) concentrations in blood (Cafe et al, 2011a;Burdick Sanchez et al, 2016), higher basal temperature (Burdick et al, 2011c;Williams et al, 2019;Lees et al, 2020;Parham et al, 2021), and higher heart rate (Parham et al, 2021) in cattle with poor temperament. Few leukocyte variables differ between cattle with poor or good temperament (Fell et al, 1999;Hulbert et al, 2011).…”

“…Thus, the behavioral flight response to handling is a brief and infrequent event in comparison with the quotidian challenges of daily life. Furthermore, physiological responses to handling and transport including changes in cortisol, epinephrine, NEFA, and body temperature tend to be transient and return to pre-challenge values within minutes to hours (Curley et al, 2008;Cafe et al, 2011a;Lees et al, 2020). In contrast to the transience of these behavioral and physiological expressions of temperament, other traits associated with FS such as body weight, growth rate, metabolic rate, core body temperature, intramuscular fat deposition, and some immune functions are manifestations of persistent expression of metabolic functions and resource allocation priorities.…”

Non-Invasive Physiological Indicators of Heat Stress in Cattle

“…The right side of the brain is connected to the left eye and passing on the right allows an animal to view the potential threat more easily with their left eye [ 125 ]. Similarly, Lees et al [ 126 ] identified that temperament of beef cattle influences the regulation of body temperature, while Lee et al [ 93 ] reported that pharmacologically induced anxious beef cattle had higher rectal temperature than calm cattle. Therefore, changes in the IRT of eyes and rectal temperature may be an indication of similar physiological responses to stress.…”

A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Assess the Welfare Impacts of a New Virtual Fencing Technology

“…Small temperature loggers collect data and are placed in the vagina or rectum of the animal ( 36 , 37 ). SIH has been demonstrated in sheep during shearing ( 38 ), isolation ( 39 ) and when anxious ( 40 – 42 ), and in cattle during handling ( 43 ) or when anxious ( 44 ). However, SIH was not observed in sheep exposed to virtual fencing stimuli either in a controlled experiment ( 18 ) or in the field ( 45 ).…”