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Many cattlemen have
suspected that disposition—the mental and emotional attitude of
cattle—has an effect on how well they do in the feedlot, having an
impact on gain. The nervous, flighty animal doesn’t spend as much
time at the feed bunk. This suspicion has been confirmed, thanks
to several studies focusing on the effects of disposition on
cattle performance. Results of these studies have also shown a
very measurable effect on carcass quality.
Dr. Rhonda Vann, animal
scientist at Mississippi State University, has been studying
cattle behavior for 3 years, in collaboration with Texas A&M
University. Her research has shown that temperament has a direct
effect on weight gain or loss and that wild cattle have very
little chance to achieve top carcass quality. For instance, docile
calves go through weaning with very little setback, compared to
nervous individuals that are more stressed. Flighty calves don’t
eat as well, losing weight for a longer period instead of gaining,
and are also more susceptible to illness since stress hinders the
immune system.
Her 3 year study
showed that docile cattle were more efficient on feed, and more
profitable. Even at pasture, the data collected on stocker steers
after a 168 day grazing period showed that calm cattle had better
growth performance and body composition. Flighty individuals not
only gained less weight in both the pasture and feedlot, but also
had poor ultrasound data, tougher meat and were often dark
cutters, with carcasses that were severely discounted by packers.
“Bad tempered animals have less fat and less marbling. There
wasn’t a noticeable difference in ribeye size, but their ability
to mobilize fat was significantly reduced,” says Vann. The end
result was $60 less profit than for docile animals.
Research at Iowa
State University reached similar conclusions, showing that wild
and unmanageable cattle gain about half a pound per day less than
easily managed cattle, and returned $61 less profit. Another study
involved more than 13,000 calves from 12 states, fed at 8 Iowa
feedlots and consigned to the Iowa Tri-County Steer Carcass
Futurity. This 3 year study looked at feedlot gain, death and
sickness loss, quality and yield grade and other performance
factors, using the Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) disposition
scoring system to measure performance and profitability of cattle
with varying temperament. A purpose of the study was to help
producers assess feedlot profitably in terms of temperament.
During the study
each group of cattle was scored 3 times during their feeding
period. Based on their scores (using the BIF scoring system) they
were sorted into 3 categories—docile, restless and aggressive. The
docile cattle gained better and there were more Prime and Choice
grades in this group, along with more acceptability for the
Certified Angus Beef program. They also had lower mortality rates
than cattle in the aggressive category.
Looking at feedlot
gain, death loss, costs of treatment, quality, yield grade and
other performance criteria, the docile group averaged $62.15 more
profit per head than aggressive cattle and $49.09 more profit per
head than the restless cattle. The aggressive cattle averaged a
net loss of $7.26.
Temperament is a
combination of genetics and handling, and begins on the farm.
Selection for easy-going disposition when purchasing a bull or
keeping a heifer, along with careful handling when cattle are
young (and each time the cows are handled for vaccinating, sorting
and any other management processing) can make a big difference in
future profitability. There are wild and calm animals in every
breed, and it is up to the producer to select the more docile
animals as seedstock. The Limousin association was the first breed
organization to develop a docility EPD at the request of their
membership, and this is a measurement needed in other breeds as
well.
Docility versus
wild, aggressive nature is not difficult to measure. Individuals
with undesirable temperament are difficult to get close to, upset
when confined (fence and gate crashers) and more difficult to
process. Several researchers use excitability and movement when
measuring temperament, such as how much the animal fights while in
the holding chute (some producers call this the “rattle index”)
and how fast the animal leaves the chute. Cattle with a high exit
speed tend to be more temperamental. Dr. Rhonda Vann, at
Mississippi State University, uses an infrared timer to measure
each animal’s exit speed when leaving the chute. Her research
showed that the animals that were fastest coming out of the chute
had poorer carcass quality and were less tender after their 120
days in the feedlot, compared with docile cattle.
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