Genetics and Behavior During Handling, Restraint, and Herding - Genetics and the Behavior of Domestic Animals - page 143

a massive fear reaction during the training, it may be very slow to habituate
afterwards. Highly reactive animals may become more fearful with each
forced handling trial, whereas an animal with a more placid temperament
may habituate and become less fearful. Grandin et al. (1994) found this in
Angus

Simmental crossbred cattle that became
increasingly agitated when they were repeatedly run through a squeeze chute
on the same day. Animals need time to calm down between training trials
and practical experience has shown that training trials should be spaced at
least 24 hours apart.
During handling and driving in alleys, lean hybrid pigs have been
observed to startle frequently and are more easily excited compared to fatter
genetic lines of pigs ( Grandin, 1994 ). The hybrids are highly reactive when a
whip is cracked and raise their ears instantaneously in response to a sudden
novel sound. Lanier et al. (1995) conducted experiments on genetically simi-
lar crossbred pigs with identical experiences and found individual differences
in their adaptability to a forced novel swimming task. Some of the pigs read-
ily adapted to a series of swimming tasks and others remained highly
stressed. Some pigs had baseline epinephrine (adrenalin) levels after swim-
ming, and other had high levels. In essence, the stressed pigs never adapted.
To summarize, animals with a placid, calm temperament habituate more
easily to forced non-painful procedures

Hereford Charolais

3 3 3

than animals with a flighty,

excitable temperament.

Innate Nervous Fearfulness or Reaction to Separation Stress
A common question asked by cattle breeders in the United States is why
cows with flighty European Continental genetics may be difficult to handle
here in the U.S. and easy to handle in France. The answer: French calves are
raised in close association with people and become tame. On ranches in the
western U. S., cows are normally handled only two or three times a year.
Early intensive contact of calves with people in France produces calm, easy
to handle adult animals. The highly reactive nature of some genetic lines of
European Continental cattle may be not be displayed when they are handled
in a quiet manner in close contact with people. In familiar surroundings, they
may appear calm, but when suddenly confronted with novelty, they are more
likely to have a violent reaction. Boissy et al. (1996) report similar findings
in sheep. Romanov ewes originally bred for intensive conditions are stressed
under extensive conditions due to a tendency to avoid humans. Further
research has shown that gentling procedures designed to get young lambs
accustomed to human contact had the greatest beneficial effect on the
Gentile di Publia breed of sheep compared to the Comisana breed
( Caroprese et al., 2012 ). This study may indicate that the breed with the high
separation distress (PANIC) benefitted the most. When a person was present
in the test arena, the trained lambs vocalized less and had less attempts at