Social behaviour and reproductive performance in semi-wild Scottish Highland cattle

Reinhardt, Catherine; Reinhardt, Annie; Reinhardt, Viktor

doi:10.1016/0168-1591(86)90058-4

Cited by 84 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Dominance hierarchies in cattle have been reported as linear or triadic and stable (Schein and Fohrman, 1955;Beilharz and Zeeb, 1982), and maintained by displays, head butting and avoidance (Hafez and Bouissou, 1975;Reinhardt et al, 1986;Krohn, 1994). In the ISS, dominance hierarchies were strongly linear and stable between seasons and the direction of dominance within each dyad was highly asymmetrical.…”

Section: Social Behaviour Of Cattle In Silvopastoral Systemsmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Active defence of scattered resources may not be profitable (Preuschoft and van Schaik, 2000). Head butting, a low-intensity aggression that involves little risk of injuries or energy expenditure (Reinhardt et al, 1986;Krohn, 1994) was the most frequent agonistic behaviour in both systems. Although we expected less agonistic interactions in the ISS, the lack of differences between systems might have occurred due to competition for shadow in the ISS.…”

Section: Social Behaviour Of Cattle In Silvopastoral Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social behaviour of cattle in tropical silvopastoral and monoculture systems

Améndola

Solorio

Kú-Vera

et al. 2016

Animal

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Silvopastoral systems can be a good alternative for sustainable livestock production because they can provide ecosystem services and improve animal welfare. Most farm animals live in groups and the social organization and interactions between individuals have an impact on their welfare. Therefore, the objective of this study was to describe and compare the social behaviour of cattle (Bos indicus × Bos taurus) in a silvopastoral system based on a high density of leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala) combined with guinea grass (Megathyrsus maximus), star grass (Cynodon nlemfuensis) and some trees; with a monoculture system with C. nlemfuensis, in the region of Merida, Yucatán. Eight heifers in each system were observed from 0730 to 1530 h each day for 12 consecutive days during the dry season and 12 consecutive days during the rainy season. The animals followed a rotation between three paddocks, remaining 4 days in each paddock. The vegetation was characterized in the paddocks of the silvopastoral system to estimate the average percentage of shade provided. To make a comparison between systems, we used a t test with group dispersion, and Mann-Whitney tests with the frequency of affiliative and agonistic behaviours. We assessed differences in linearity and stability of dominance hierarchies using Landau's index and Dietz R-test, respectively. The distance of cows with respect to the centroid of the group was shorter, and non-agonistic behaviours were 62% more frequent in the intensive silvopastoral system than in the monoculture one. Heifers in the silvopastoral system had a more linear and non-random dominance hierarchy in both seasons (dry season: h' = 0.964; rainy season: h' = 0.988), than heifers in the monoculture system (dry season: h' = 0.571, rainy season: h' = 0.536). The dominance hierarchy in the silvopastoral system was more stable between seasons (R-test = 0.779) than in the monoculture system (R-test = 0.224). Our results provide the first evidence that heifers in the silvopastoral system maintain more stable social hierarchies and express more sociopositive behaviours, suggesting that animal welfare was enhanced.

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Section: Social Behaviour Of Cattle In Silvopastoral Systemsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Social Behaviour Of Cattle In Silvopastoral Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social behaviour of cattle in tropical silvopastoral and monoculture systems

Améndola

Solorio

Kú-Vera

et al. 2016

Animal

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“…Several examples are summarised in Table 1. All but one of these herds exhibit seasonal calving with the majority of births occurring during the season of spring, suggesting a strong relationship between calving and the spring flush of grass as temperatures rise after the winter (Reinhardt et al 1986). …”

Section: Manipulation Of Calving Seasonalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Only one herd included in Table 1 (Hall and Moore 1986;Berteaux and Micol 1992;Lazo 1995;Gómez et al 1997) or, if they do, live in a region with harsh winters (Reinhardt et al 1986). …”

Section: Manipulation Of Calving Seasonalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Calving seasonality at Pool, Orkney during the first millennium AD: an investigation using intra-tooth isotope ratio analysis of cattle molar enamel

Towers

Mainland

Montgomery

et al. 2016

Environmental Archaeology

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(2016) 'Calving seasonality at Pool, Orkney during the rst millennium AD : an investigation using intra-tooth isotope ratio analysis of cattle molar enamel.', Environmental archaeology., 22 (1). pp. 40-55. Further information on publisher's website: Additional information:Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. IntroductionIn order to gain an understanding of the economic basis of prehistoric communities, the identification of dairying is essential, particularly in northwest Europe, where a high degree of lactose tolerance suggests that fresh milk has long been a significant dietary component. Currently, prehistoric dairying is investigated using a variety of techniques.The two techniques that have been most widely applied are the examination of faunal remains and compound-specific stable isotope analysis of lipids in pottery residues.Examination of faunal remains to determine age-at-death slaughter patterns (mortality profiles) and female to male ratios (Higham 1968;Payne 1973) allows the economic role of a particular species (e.g. for meat, wool, milk or traction) to be inferred (e.g.Legge 1981), whilst lipid analysis is effective at identifying the presence of milk products in the archaeological record (e.g. Dudd and Evershed 1998;Copley et al. 2005a). Recent developments in the detection of archaeological proteins have allowed the identification of milk proteins to species in both organic residues and human dental calculus (e.g. Hong et al. 2012;Buckley et al. 2013; Warinner et al. 2014).An additional approach to identify cattle (Bos taurus) dairying in prehistoric communities is explored in this paper: a possible relationship between calving seasonality, i.e. the distribution of births throughout the year, and economic focus. For economies focussed on the year-round production of fresh milk as a staple food product, it has been postulated that multiple-season calving would have been necessary (Towers et al. 2011;Balasse et al. 2012a;Gron et al. 2015). In contrast, a strategy of singleseason calving, probably in spring, may have been favoured for meat-based economies or economies focussed on storable milk products. Increasingly, birth seasonality of domestic herbivores has been investigated using intra-tooth isotope ratio analysis of molar enamel (e.g. Balasse et al. 2003;Balasse and Tresset 2007;Blaise and Balasse 2011;Towers et al. 2011;Balasse et al. 2012a;Balasse et al. 2012b;Tornero et al. 2013;Towers et al. 2014;Buchan et al. 2015;Gron et al. 2015).Each of the aforementioned techniques to identify p...

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“…Firm dominance relationships characterise groups of cattle (Bos taurus) and other ungulates, as bison, ibex and muskoxen, both under intensive rearing system and in freeranging conditions (Oberosler et al, 1982;Willisch and Neuhaus, 2010;Sárová et al, 2013). As long as group composition is constant, only few competitions between pairs of animals occur to define social dominance, and most of them involve rank-close animals (Reinhardt et al, 1986;Bouissou et al, 2001). Interactions for dominance occur in cattle at beginning of summer grazing, when different herds are conveyed in the same pasture area, or whenever cows of an herd are regrouped in relation to milk yield or stage of lactation (Phillips, 2002;Bøe and Faerevik, 2003;von Keyserlingk et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationship Between Number and Intensity of Fighting: Evidence From Cow Fighting Tournaments in Valdostana Cattle

Sartori

Manser

Mantovani

2014

Italian Journal of Animal Science

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Cattle establish firm dominance relationships through ritualised fights. This study aimed at investigating behaviours involved in dominance relationships and effect of factors such as weight, age and repeated fighting experience in fighting dynamics. Subject of the study was the Valdostana breed, whose cows assess dominance relationships in traditional competitions. Tournaments consist in rounds in which cows interact in pairs to assess dominance. Only winners participate in subsequent rounds. An amount of 120 fights involving 145 cows was retained, and winners (51 cows) were considered as focal individuals. An ethogram of agonistic interactions was established, including behaviours of different agonistic intensity as physical interactions (pushes, clashes), displays (threats, vocalisations), and non agonistic approaches. A transition diagram of behaviours showed a tendency to express firstly non agonistic approaches and lastly more aggressive clashes. A mixed linear model analysis on traits like competition intensity, duration, and type of behaviours expressed showed a significant effect of age difference on behaviours. However, the most important factor was the number of rounds performed: from the first to subsequent fights agonistic intensity and physical contacts increased, and displays reduced. This may be due either to the fact that more aggressive individuals were likely to be the winners, or that in higher rounds the opponents were more similar regarding fighting ability or aggressiveness and thus more intense fights occurred. The increased aggressiveness after repeated situations of competition suggests suggests that careful attention should be paid to welfare when animals are exposed to situations of high competition, like regrouping.

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Social behaviour and reproductive performance in semi-wild Scottish Highland cattle

Cited by 84 publications

References 21 publications

Social behaviour of cattle in tropical silvopastoral and monoculture systems

Social behaviour of cattle in tropical silvopastoral and monoculture systems

Calving seasonality at Pool, Orkney during the first millennium AD: an investigation using intra-tooth isotope ratio analysis of cattle molar enamel

Relationship Between Number and Intensity of Fighting: Evidence From Cow Fighting Tournaments in Valdostana Cattle

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