Selecting quiet cattle as replacements a high priority
From the edition of Agriculture Today.
Bad tempered cattle are dangerous to the handler, stir up the others in the mob, and have been shown not to perform as well as quieter cattle.
The Beef CRC has researched 'flight time' as a simple measure of temperament.
Flight time is the time it takes for cattle to exit the cattle crush and move through a set distance of 1.7 to two metres.
The faster the cattle move, the poorer their temperament.
Nervous cattle have higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol, and have been shown to have poorer feedlot growth and more health problems.
They lose more weight during long distance transport, and are slower to recover.
In the tropically adapted (breed) steers, the CRC showed a strong genetic relationship between flight time and laboratory meat tenderness and consumer eating quality (MSA) score.
Selection for improved temperament in these cattle will produce a genetic improvement in tenderness.
Temperament can also be measured with a crush score, or yard score.
In each case the animal is given a score according to how it reacts when it is confined.
Crush score is highly correlated to flight time, and has been used by the Limousin breed to produce an estimated breeding value for docility.
Limousin docility will continue to improve as they use these genetic estimates in their breeding programs.
Handling and training cattle is a successful way of making cattle quieter.
Yard weaning has been shown to have an enormous effect on making cattle quieter and easier to handle.
This is a great management technique but, remember, it does nothing to alter the underlying genetics.
Well trained and handled quiet cattle can still breed cranky calves.
They may be better off culled from the herd.
The same for well handled but genetically flighty cattle - they can get stirred up in strange surroundings.
What are the implications of the CRC research in this area?
Select quiet cattle and get rid of the bad natured ones.
A single measure of temperament can be done at weaning and used for selection.
- BRIAN CUMMING
This column appears in Agriculture Today.
