Social Dominance and Temperament of Holstein Cows

Dickson, David P.; Barr, G.R.; Johnson, L.P.; Wieckert, D.A.

doi:10.3168/jds.s0022-0302(70)86316-0

Cited by 107 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Regarding reactivity towards humans, our estimate (h 2 = 0.23) was in agreement with those found previously in dairy cattle [13,40,46], and beef cattle [27,31]. The heritability estimates found in the present study thus provide evidence in support of the possibility of selecting for emotional traits in sheep.…”

Section: Adjusted Means and P Values In Italicssupporting

confidence: 81%

“…For instance, studies in sheep [26,37] and cattle [23,47] have shown that emotional reactivity differs between breeds. Nevertheless most studies on livestock concern reactivity to humans, whereas reactivity to novelty and to social isolation have not been accurately estimated [13,19,31,46]. In addition breed differences can be partly explained by non-genetic influences such as maternal effects, as extensively documented in rodents [38].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Genetic analysis of emotional reactivity in sheep: effects of the genotypes of the lambs and of their dams

et al. 2005

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-A total of 1347 weaned lambs from eight genotypes were tested over five consecutive years: Romanov (ROM) and Lacaune (LAC) pure breeds, the two F1 crossbreeds (RL and LR) and the offspring of ewes from these four genotypes sired with Berrichon-du-Cher rams (BCF). The lambs were individually exposed to three challenging tests involving novelty, human contact and social isolation. Ten synthetic variables were used to express social reactivity (i.e., active vs. passive strategy), exploratory activity and reactivity to humans. BCF crossbreds were more active (i.e., high bleats, locomotion and attempts to escape) than purebreds and F1. In contrast, ROM expressed more passive responses (i.e., low bleats and vigilance postures) than LAC and BCF crossbreds. In addition, ROM approached a motionless human less and had longer flight distances to an approaching human than did LAC and BCF crossbreds. When restrained, ROM, and to a lesser extent B×ROM and B×LR, avoided human contact more than did LAC, RL and B×LAC. Most of these differences were explained by direct additive genetic effects while maternal influences or heterosis effects were rarely significant. The highest heritability was for high bleats (h 2 = 0.48). Females were more active and avoided human contact more than did males.genetics / emotional reactivity / human contact / social isolation / sheep

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Section: Adjusted Means and P Values In Italicssupporting

confidence: 81%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic analysis of emotional reactivity in sheep: effects of the genotypes of the lambs and of their dams

et al. 2005

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“…In cattle, temperament is highly heritable. The heritability estimate of temperament in cattle has been figured at 0.40 (76), 0.53 (16), and 0.45 (80). Several studies have shown that cattle with brahman genetics (Bos indicus) are more excitable than Bos taurus breeds when evaluated by observing their behavior in a squeeze chute (22,30,44).…”

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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“…This is not a surprising finding as animals born earlier generally have larger BWs and frames and are thus likely to be dominant. A previous research revealed that social dominance correlated strongly with age (Dickson et al, 1970). Val-Laillet et al (2009) also reported that older multiparous animals were higher-ranking of dominance than younger primiparous ones.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Factors influencing the priority of access to food and their effects on the carcass traits for Japanese Black (Wagyu) cattle

Takanishi

Oishi

Kumagai

et al. 2015

Animal

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The factors influencing the priority of access to food and the effects of the priority of access to food on their carcass traits were analyzed for Japanese Black (Wagyu) cattle in a semi-intensive fattening production system. The records of 96 clinically healthy steers and heifers were analyzed. The calves at ∼ 3 to 4 months of age were allocated to pens with four animals per pen; all four animals in the same pen were of the same sex and of similar body size. The ranking of the animals' priority of access to food (1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd and 4 th ), which was determined by the farm manager, was used as an indicator of social dominance in the present study. Four models including sire line, maternal grandsire line and the difference in the animals' birth dates as fixed effects were used to analyze factors influencing the priority of access to food. Ranking was represented by ordinal scores (highest = 4, lowest = 1) in Model 1, and the binary scores were assigned in Model 2 (highest = 1; 2 nd , 3 rd and 4 th = 0), Model 3 (1 st and 2 nd = 1; 3 rd and 4 th = 0) and Model 4 (1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd = 1; lowest = 0). The results showed that the difference in the animals' birth dates had a significant effect on the establishment of the priority of access to food in Model 3 ( P < 0.05), suggesting that animals born earlier may become more dominant in the pen. The maternal grandsire line tended to affect the social rank score in Models 2 and 3 ( P < 0.10). Our results indicated that the maternal grandsire line may affect the temperament of calves through their mothers' genetic performance and thereby more aggressive calves may be more dominant and have higher priority of access to food. On the other hand, there was a significant effect of the priority of access to food on beef marbling score (BMS; P < 0.05), and the priority of access to food also tended to influence the carcass weight ( P = 0.09). The highest BMS was observed for animals with the first rank of the priority of access to food ( P < 0.05), and the higher-ranking animals had the tendency to be heavier carcass than the lower-ranking animals. Our findings emphasized the importance of information about the priority of access to food determined by farmers' own observation on implementing best management practices in small-scaled semi-intensive beef cattle production systems.

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Social Dominance and Temperament of Holstein Cows

Cited by 107 publications

References 6 publications

Genetic analysis of emotional reactivity in sheep: effects of the genotypes of the lambs and of their dams

Genetic analysis of emotional reactivity in sheep: effects of the genotypes of the lambs and of their dams

Review: Reducing Handling Stress Improves Both Productivity and Welfare

Factors influencing the priority of access to food and their effects on the carcass traits for Japanese Black (Wagyu) cattle

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