Abstract
The temperament of four beef cattle breeds were measured using a flight time test (FT) and a behavior score test (BST). FT was defined as the time taken by animals to cross a distance of 2 m after weight scale. The BST used a visual assessment of cattle behavior in which the results of four categories defined the score: movements, breathing intensity, vocalization and kicking. FT and BST coefficients of heritability were estimated using the restricted maximum likelihood, considering half siblings. Caracu presented a lower BST value than the other breeds. Nellore presented intermediate results, followed by Guzerat and Gyr with similar and higher means (p < 0.05). Similar results were observed with FT, but Caracu and Nellore did not differ from each other. A low association between FT and BST was found (rp= -0.36; p < 0.01). The correlation between a sire’s ranking, according to the predicted breeding values (p) estimated for FT and BST, was moderate and negative (rs = -0.63; p < 0.001). Heritability estimates for FT and BST were 0.35 and 0.34, respectively. Inside Nellore breed, herds with different selection criteria for weight were compared. Our results show that selection line based on weight might positively modulate temperament of Bos indicus cattle.
Highlights
It is accepted that animals with excitable temperaments are more difficult and dangerous to handle than those with calm temperaments (BURROW, 2001; MARTIN; RÉALE, 2008; RÉALE et al, 2007)
Cattle temperament was assessed using two measures, flight time (FT) and behavior score test (BST), to test the following hypotheses: 1) temperament varies between and within cattle breeds; 2) differences in temperament within breeds can be explained by additive genetic inheritance; and 3) there is a strong relationship between the flight time test (FT) and BST methods of assessing cattle temperament
Four breeds of beef cattle were raised in the EEZS, under similar handling conditions: three Bos indicus breeds (Nellore, Guzerat and Gyr) and one native breed, Caracu, a Bos taurus that originated in Brazil through the crossing-breeding of Iberian cattle
Summary
It is accepted that animals with excitable temperaments are more difficult and dangerous to handle than those with calm temperaments (BURROW, 2001; MARTIN; RÉALE, 2008; RÉALE et al, 2007). Animal reactions toward humans have been assessed in numerous ways and studied in different scenarios, which has aimed to solve practical problems during handling or to define which animals should not be selected to reproduce in a breeding program Other approaches to animal temperament adopt a wider concept and define the variable as a pool of individual psycho physiological traits that determine emotional reactions (RÉALE et al, 2007). Such approaches make the practical assessment of temperament much more complex. Cattle temperament was assessed using two measures, flight time (FT) and behavior score test (BST), to test the following hypotheses: 1) temperament varies between and within cattle breeds; 2) differences in temperament within breeds can be explained by additive genetic inheritance; and 3) there is a strong relationship between the FT and BST methods of assessing cattle temperament
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