New results on temperament of Aubrac and Charolais cattle kept in a Hungarian herd
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17205/SZIE.AWETH.2018.2.063Keywords:
temperament, repeatability, weaning, sex, Charolais, AubracAbstract
As in every sector of animal breeding, application of ethological observations is getting more and more important in practical cattle farming, too. Aims of this study were the observation of chronological changes in temperament of Aubrac (AU) and Charolais (CH) heifers and testing the effect of sex and breed on temperament scores of calves.
Experiments were carried out on the farm of La Garonnaise Ltd., Mezőnagymihály. The farming staff did not change throughout the experiments. In the first study (n= 94 animals) temperament was recorded during scalings on three (AU: n= 5, CH: n= 18) or four (AU: n= 49, CH: n= 22) subsequent occasions. In the second study, n= 64 Aubrac and n= 25 Charolais calves were scored at weaning, out of which 49 were bulls and 40 heifers. In both experiments, temperament was scored between 1-5 using the directions of scale test.
Significant differences were revealed between temperament scores given at the four weighings of heifers (median values: 1st and 4th occasions: 1 score; 2nd and 3th occasions: 2 scores; P<0.0001). Evaluation of the data by breeds, significant differences between subsequent scorings were observed only in Aubrac heifers (P<0.05), but not in Charolais. No significant rank correlations were revealed between results of the subsequent scorings. Charolais heifers were calmer at the 2nd weighing (medians: CH: 1 score, AU: 2 scores; P<0.01), and more nervous at the 4th weighing (medians: CH: 2 scores, AU: 1 score; P<0,0001), than Aubrac heifers. At weaning, Charolais calves were proven to be more nervous compared to Aubrac ones (means: AU: 1.91 scores, CH: 2.76 scores; P<0.0001). Effect of sex was not significant on temperament either when evaluating data of the breeds together or separately (P>0.05). Results confirm the easy applicability of scale test for fast evaluation of temperament in beef cattle. Authors find ethological observations important in beef cattle breeding and imply the need of further experiments to make useful practical suggestions to support efficient beef farming.
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