Genetics and Behavior During Handling, Restraint, and Herding - Genetics and the Behavior of Domestic Animals - page 127

approach novel objects or a man lying on the ground. Breeds with the largest
flight zones had the strongest tendency to approach novel objects. This
observation is only true if animals are allowed to voluntarily approach novel
objects. During forced movements when animals are being driven toward a
novel object, just the opposite is true. The excitable individuals are more
fearful and more likely to “spook” or balk. The second author has observed
similar breed differences in the temperament of horses. High-strung breeds
such as Arabians or Thoroughbreds take longer to habituate and stop fearing
a novel situation such as new riding arenas, transport vehicles, or a strange
person. Calmer, more placid animals habituate more easily to novel stimulus.
Many well-documented examples report differences in temperament
between different breeds of cattle. Stricklin et al. (1980) report that Herefords
are the most docile British breed and Galloways the most excitable. Early
studies show that Angus and Angus cows are more temperamental than
Herefords ( Stricklin et al., 1980; Tulloh, 1961; Wagnon et al., 1966 ). Angus
cattle dominated Hereford cattle in social rank even though they weighed less.
Fordyce et al. (1988) found that Brahman cross cattle become more agitated
during restraint than Shorthorns. Research by Voisinet et al. (1997) had
similar

results. Braford, SimmentalRed Angus, Red Brangus, and

Simmental Brahman cattle became more agitated during restraint than

Angus, Simmental 3 Red Angus and Tarentais 3 Angus. Numerous studies
show that English breeds such as Hereford or Angus are calmer than continen-
tal breeds such as Limousin or Brahma- cross cattle ( Baszczak et al., 2006;
Hoppe et al., 2010 ). Sheep breeds bred for meat such as Suffolk or Texel,
became more agitated in an auction ring compared to Merino and Corriedale
breeds bred for wool ( Dias Barbosa Silveira et al., 2010 ).

3

Problems with Crossbred Cattle
In 1993, the first author began to hear reports from cattle feeders in the
United States about certain cattle unable to adapt to a feedlot. Most newly
arrived cattle in feedlots adapt to vehicles and people within a few days.
However, feedlot operators began to notice some crossbreeds with European
Continental genetics Limousin or Saler were unable to adapt to the feedlot.
Some animals had to be removed from the feedlot and returned to pasture.
The breed associations responded to these problems by introducing to ran-
chers programs which used restraint tests to evaluate their cattle. In 2012,
Limousin cattle are on average are much calmer compared to herds in the
early 1990s. Further observations by the first author suggest that behavior
during handling or restraint of highly reactive European Continental crosses
is different from the behavior of Brahman or Brahman-cross cattle. For
example, Brahman cattle are seldom self-destructive when they become agi-
tated. However, the first author has observed European Continental crosses
more likely to injure themselves and panic during handling in squeeze chutes