Abstract
ABSTRACT: Temperament often depends on the animals’ reaction to people, social and environmental conditions. However, little is known about the influence of changes in the pasture environment on cattle temperament. Thus, this study was designed to evaluate if an animals’ temperament changes in response to being kept in a silvopastoral system. This study evaluated the effect of the tree components in a pasture environment on the temperament of any grazing cattle in integrated crop-livestock systems. A total of thirty-two Angus steers were allocated to either a livestock (L) or livestock-forest (LF) system and observed from December 2019 to February 2020. Each animal was evaluated for their reactivity score, flight speed, and number of vocalizations. The statistical model established that the animals were random effects and that the treatments and periods were fixed effects using the MIXED procedure, and the means were compared using LSMeans. The flight speed and number of vocalizations were similar in both production systems, while the reactivity score was lower for animals kept in the LF system when compared to those in the L system. This suggested that the LF system interferes positively with the animal’s temperament in relation to the L production system. However, additional research is needed to understand the influence of the production system on animal temperament.
Highlights
INTRODUCTIONThe domestication of animals has highlighted the changes in their behavioral patterns in response to the presence of man, and the terms “tame”, “docile” and “wild” began to be used to express the fear response within livestock herds in the early 1950s (SCOTT & FREDERICSON, 1951)
The domestication of animals has highlighted the changes in their behavioral patterns in response to the presence of man, and the terms “tame”, “docile” and “wild” began to be used to express the fear response within livestock herds in the early 1950s (SCOTT & FREDERICSON, 1951).The reaction of the animals when faced with an uncomfortable or threatening situation, whether of environmental origin, social dispute, or handling, triggers emotional responses manifested by behavioral changes which may vary in individual animals and herds (GRANDIN, 2000; PARHAM et al, 2019)
This study evaluated the effect of the tree components in a pasture environment on the temperament of any grazing cattle in integrated crop-livestock systems
Summary
The domestication of animals has highlighted the changes in their behavioral patterns in response to the presence of man, and the terms “tame”, “docile” and “wild” began to be used to express the fear response within livestock herds in the early 1950s (SCOTT & FREDERICSON, 1951). The carcass of animals with poor temperaments has a higher incidence of bruises and increased pH values (above 5.8), resulting in a reduction in the organoleptic and sensory quality of the meat (FORDYCE et al, 1988; BURROW & DILLON, 1997; CAFE et al, 2011; FELL et al, 1999; KING et al, 2006). The pasture is the most favorable environment for cattle allowing them to express more natural behaviors (FRASER et al, 2013), some characteristics of these systems cause stress to the animals, such as the absence of shade for protection against incident solar radiation, higher risk of contamination by parasites, absence of scratching devices, greater exposure to predators, and more competition for environmental resources. The animals’ reactivity score, flight speed from the cattle chute, and number of vocalizations in the cattle chute were measured
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