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During the past 10 years, several studies at universities have
looked at the correlation between “wild” temperamental cattle
and poor performance—less feed efficiency at the feedlot, poor
carcass quality (less tenderness, more dark cutters), etc. For a
long time in our industry, disposition/temperament was thought
to be just an inconvenience at the first level of production—a
hazard for the cow/calf producer. The fact that some cattle are
harder to handle at the ranch was not considered a problem for
the feeder or the end product—affecting carcass quality or the
consumer. Many seedstock producers didn’t pay much attention to
this factor (concentrating on more tangible traits like
weaning/yearling weights, birthweight, marbling), thus
perpetuating the problem of unruly cattle.
“Wild” cattle are a product of genetics and handling. The
natural temperament of any animal is inherited, but it is also
influenced by the way we handle that animal. A nervous, flighty
individual can be calmed and become manageable, and an
aggressive, mean one can learn to respect you if handled with
quiet firmness. They can learn to trust and tolerate people and
“fit the program” if handled with understanding and gentleness,
or consistent quiet fearlessness—if they are smart enough to be
trained. Some never do gentle down, however, and are a
frustration or a hazard every time you handle them. Genetics
dictates how well an animal will respond to the way it is
handled. On the flip side, a naturally mellow individual can be
made wild and untrusting by inconsiderate “cowboying”.
The basic nature of an animal will generally surface during
times of psychological stress or novel experiences. Even if you
handle flighty cattle gently and they have become very
manageable and at ease with you, they may “regress” to their
wild, untrusting natural attitude when confronted with something
completely new or when handled a different way by someone else.
The best way to ensure easy-handling cattle that perform
optimally on down the line is to start with genetically mellow
cattle and then take care to handle/train them carefully so they
are not “ruined” by fast gathers, barking dogs, shouting and hot
shots at the chute.
Gainability and Feed Efficiency
The first studies looking at how temperament and cattle handling
affected beef production were done in the mid 1990’s by Dr.
Temple Grandin, Colorado State University. She looked at the
impact of temperament on an animal’s ability to gain weight.
Grandin and her research team studied 479 steers and heifers at
2 feedlot facilities in Fort Collins. This group of calves
included a broad mix of breeds: Angus, Angus-Tarentaise cross,
Braliman-Red Angus-Senepol composite, Braford, Simmental-Red
Angus cross, Red Brangus, and Simbrah.
A temperament ranking was given to each individual, based on a 1
to 5 scale, after evaluating them in a squeeze chute or on a
weighing scale. The rankings were 1. no movement; 2. slightly
restless shifting; 3. squirming and occasional shaking of the
restraint device; 4. continuous vigorous movement and shaking of
the restraint device, and 5. rearing up, twisting or violent
struggling, going berserk.
All cattle were fed to about the same finish (fat thickness of 9
to 13 mm over the 12th rib, aiming for a target thickness of 11
mm) as determined by periodic ultrasound measure. “We found the
craziest animals (temperament score 5) had the lowest average
daily gain. Conversely, the calmest animals had the highest
average daily gain,” said Grandin.
Most of the cattle in this study had lower average daily gains
than expected for their breed, and she attributed this to the
fact that most of them were extremely wild and difficult to
handle and had been brought in from ranches where they had
minimal contact with people. Even though the number of highly
agitated wild cattle was higher than their breed average, the
comparison between the calmer and wilder individuals remained
constant.
In later studies a “flight time” test was utilized to help
determine temperament score. This looks at how fast the animal
covers a certain distance after being released from a chute or
any other restraint. Motion detection devices clock the animal’s
speed coming out of the chute. This “exit speed” is an objective
way to measure the animal’s excitability and tolerance to
handling.
The wildest animals leave more quickly. The longer it takes for
an animal to leave the area on its own, the more docile it is.
In studies at Texas A&M, for instance, exit speeds of weaned
steers ranged from 0.4 feet per second (very slow and docile) to
13.5 feet per second (very wild). This flight-time test is
considered to be a more accurate measure of temperament since
the amount of struggling an animal does in a squeeze chute may
not always relate to its behavior in a feedyard.
In 2003, researchers at the CSIRO Livestock Industries’ Rendel
Laboratory (Rockhampton, New Zealand) found that docile cattle
had higher levels of productivity and overall carcass quality.
The aggressive, wild cattle had lower average daily gains,
poorer feed efficiency and lesser carcass weights. Dr. Heather
Burrow, head of the research lab, said that poor temperament
reduces profitability of cattle through increased production
costs as well as poor performance. These cattle take more labor
to gather and work, are harder on facilities, and increase the
risk of injury to the cattle and the people handling them.
Using the flight-time test, Burrow said that crossbred steers
with slow flight times (docile temperament) grew faster and had
heavier carcasses than steers with poor temperament. “Steers
with the slowest flight times gained 0.8 pounds per day more
than steers with the fastest flight times,” said Burrow. In
addition, the research showed that good temperament reduces
losses associated with transportation, reducing shrink losses as
much as 60 percent.
In studies at Texas A&M in 2002, the difference between calm
animals and wild ones was dramatic. In the first 50 days after
weaning, those with wild temperament did not gain weight at all,
while those with good temperament continued to gain weight as if
they were still nursing their mothers. The wild steers ate less
and lost an average of 11 pounds and the docile ones showed an
average gain of 30 pounds during the first 50 days post weaning.
This study was a cooperative effort between the Texas Experiment
Station and University of Georgia, using Angus and Braford
calves. These results show that even if a set of wild calves
weans at a good weight, whoever buys them may lose money; those
calves are going to be more expensive to feed out.
Dark Cutters
Poor temperament leads to poor meat quality. Wild cattle, or any
animals that are upset at the time of butchering, tend to
produce darker meat which has a shorter shelf life. The main
cause of dark cutters is low muscle glycogen at the time the
animal is butchered. The meat also has less than normal amount
of lactic acid development (which occurs after rigor mortis sets
in following slaughter), preventing a drop in the pH of muscle
tissue. The pH of muscle tissue at slaughter is usually about 7
and drops to 5.5 to 5.6 after death, which is the desired level
for good meat. Dark cutters are sometimes referred to as high pH
beef.
Stress is the main cause of glycogen depletion in the muscles of
cattle. This can be due to physical stress (strenuous activity)
or psychological stress (fear, anxiety). Either type of stress
creates higher levels of adrenaline production in the body.
These stresses can be due to many things—sudden weather change,
how cattle are handled (getting them upset and fearful), mixing
different groups of cattle (creating social stresses in the
herd), poor temperament (which accentuates reactions to any
other stresses) and so on. Wild, crazy cattle that tend to
stress easily are much more likely to have poor carcass quality.
Dark cutters generally result from stress or sickness incurred
during transport to the packing facility, and these carcasses
are usually discounted greatly or condemned—resulting in a huge
loss to the feeder.
In Temple Grandin’s studies at CSU she looked at the effect of
temperament on dark cutters, adding more cattle to her original
weight gain study group, plus additional data on Angus,
Hereford, Hereford cross and Tarentaise-Angus cross cattle. The
results showed that cattle with the wildest temperament had the
highest incidence of dark cutters; 25 percent of cattle with a
score of 5 (wildest) were dark cutters, while less than 5
percent of those in the 1 to 4 ranking were dark cutters. Her
research also found that heifers with wild temperament were more
likely than steers to be dark cutters. Heifers, due to estrus
activity—and bulls, due to testosterone—produce more dark
cutters than steers.
The New Zealand studies found that docile cattle have 75 to 85
percent less dark cutters than wild cattle. Dark cutters are
most often the result of disposition. If a calf is highly
excitable, genetically predisposed toward bad behavior, any
stress from being handled may increase the likelihood of that
animal becoming a dark cutter.
Tenderness
The research in New Zealand looked at differences between docile
and flighty, aggressive cattle, and found that the latter
produced tougher meat. “Flighty cattle don’t have enough
glycogen [in the muscles], a sugar that helps break down the
muscle after slaughter,” said Dr. Burrow.
The Warner-Bratzler shear force test is often used to measure
tenderness, registering the amount of force it takes to cut the
meat. For testing, 1 or 1/2 inch cores are cut from steaks and
inserted into the WBS machine, where they are sheared by a
mechanically driven blunt knife. The force required to cut
through the core is measured in pounds or kilograms.
In the New Zealand research, cattle with good temperaments
showed a 2.25 to 3.5 pound decrease in the amount of force
needed to cut through certain cuts of beef, compared with meat
from wild cattle. This decrease in shear force makes the
difference between a piece of meat being tender or tough.
The U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (MARC) defines the
acceptable tenderness threshold at about 1.8 pounds of pressure.
Beef can be considered tender enough for pleasant eating if it’s
up to about 2.5 pounds of pressure, but anything higher than
that is considered tough. In studies in the U.S. and other
countries, it’s been consistently shown that beef from docile
animals takes less force to cut, with most of it being at or
well below the 1.8 pounds of pressure. Wilder animals produced
tougher meat, in some instances requiring 3 to 3.5 pounds of
force.
The first U.S. research on tenderness was done in 2004, as a
cooperative study between Texas A&M and Mississippi State
University. Dr. Ron Randel (Texas Ag Experiment Station,
Overton) said the correlation between high exit speeds (leaving
a chute) and toughness was substantial. Earlier work done by
Randel and other Texas A&M researchers showed that wild cattle
eat less and gain less, but this study was the first in the U.S.
to show a strong correlation between temperament and meat
tenderness. All the animals with high WBS scores (moderately
tough to very tough) had high exit speeds (averaging about 9
feet per second) on their temperament tests.
Genetic Selection
The cow-calf producer is where it all starts. We need to
diligently select cattle for good temperament in our breeding
programs, not just to make life easier for ourselves when
handling them but also to ensure more profitability. Feeders are
learning that gentle cattle perform better, and in the future
this may be one of the criteria that determines whether or not
they’ll want to buy your calves. Gentle cattle are just more
profitable all down the line. They are easier on facilities,
less hazard to the people working with them, and easier on
themselves (less injuries and bruising). Wild cattle are not
only apt to injure themselves, but also seem more susceptible to
some diseases—since stress can hinder the immune system.
A wild cow or bull is likely to produce offspring with the same
crazy attitude. Disposition is highly heritable. Even if a cow
or bull produces calves with other desirable traits, this one
bad aspect can spoil it all and should not be tolerated. In a
herd situation, one wild, suspicious or crazy cow can influence
the others and raise the stress level of the whole herd when you
try to gather them or work them. One suspicious cow that runs
off when you approach will make the others think there is
something to be afraid of, since herd animals take their cues
from herdmates.
Dr. Burrow in New Zealand said that selecting for disposition
should be done soon after weaning, when the animals are somewhat
familiar with the handling facilities, but not yet so familiar
that their natural behavior has already been modified.
“Comparative flight times (when leaving a chute) can be used to
identify the ones that will perform well under intensive
production and handling systems, including feedlots,” said
Burrow. She urged feedlot operators to use flight times also—as
a management tool as cattle enter the feedlot. This could help
them decide which animals should be penned together, and which
should be culled or put into lots with similarly wild cattle, so
they won’t be a bad influence on the gentle ones.
Tips on Handling Cattle
Handling cattle is like training horses. It should always be
done with forethought and a consideration of the
repercussions—how the animal will react to your actions.
Everything you do with an animal either makes them better (more
trusting, more easy to handle the next time) or worse. The way
you handle cattle can make them less trusting, more likely to
run off when they see you coming, more reluctant to go into the
corral, more apt to balk at going down the chute, more frantic
in the chute, more desperate to get out of it, etc.
It is very important that young cattle be handled properly, so
they will be more docile and manageable later—either in the
feedlot or as replacement heifers and cows. Their first
experience with people and being worked should be a good one. A
bad experience the first time they are put through a chute, for
instance, can create a permanent bad memory and make future
working more stressful.
Stress is one of the hidden costs of cattle production. The
stress of being worked affects weight gain, reproduction and
health of the cattle. Calm, quiet handling always pays. If you
are upset or in a hurry when you work cattle, the animals can
sense your mood and this makes them more upset and stressed.
Noise, extra movement, etc. can get cattle excited and they are
harder to work.
Move slowly and deliberately around cattle; sudden movements are
more apt to spook them. Several studies have shown that cattle
can become very fearful and agitated in just a few seconds of
bad handling, but it may take 20 to 30 minutes for their heart
rate to return to normal after a bad experience. It’s better to
try to avoid this kind of stress to begin with. |
