This is a busy time of year on many beef farms as cattle are handled for weaning, routine pregnancy or blood-tests, and being prepared to be housed or sold.
Almost all of those routine tasks will involve restraining the animals in a cattle crush. It's basically a metal crate, at the end of a narrow race the width of the animal, that harmlessly restrains them by the neck in a yoke.
Some cattle are reluctant to go into a crush, may attempt to jump out of the penning, lash out with their hind hooves at the stockman behind them, or even charge at the people handling them. Once identified, many farmers dispose of such temperamental cattle at the first opportunity, as, apart from other considerations, they represent a danger to those working with them.
Temperamental heifers can turn nasty when they first calve, or later in life as cows, and charge at stockmen to protect their newborn calves. As most of us work alone, particularly during the night, that can prove fatal.
Still, there are other reasons for culling temperamental cattle and for selecting docile breeding stock. Research has demonstrated that beef heifers with calm temperaments reach puberty sooner than temperamental ones. Further, beef cows with excitable temperaments are less likely to become pregnant during the breeding season.
Temperament also affects live weight gain, with more excitable cattle putting on less weight per day. This is partly due to highly-strung cattle spending more time inspecting their surroundings and reacting against "threats" instead of eating, leading to lower feed intake compared to their calm, contented pen mates.
Some of the energy they do consume is "burned" up by their agitated behaviour rather than used for live weight gain. One of the main hormones produced during stress responses is cortisol. Elevated cortisol concentrations stimulate the breakdown of body tissues, such as muscle and fat deposits, in order to release energy and protein to further support the behavioural stress response.
Besides impairing growth rates, an excitable temperament also has detrimental effects on carcass quality and eating quality of the beef. Highly-strung cattle typically have more bruised carcasses, lower carcass grades, an increased incidence of dark-cutting meat, and tougher beef.
Handling young cattle gently and considerately can make them calmer. Talking quietly to cattle, gently stroking the rumps or heads of more inquisitive friendly ones, and regularly moving slowly through a bunch of beasts all help to reassure timid ones.
On the other hand, those who shout a lot and handle cattle aggressively by hitting them and waving their arms, tend to make timid cattle more fearful and excitable. Still, the best option is to breed docile animals from docile parents. Temperament is a heritable trait that is easily observed and measured.
One interesting way of selecting calm cattle for breeding purposes is by the position of the hair whorl on the forehead. Research has shown that cattle with a round hair whorl located above their eyes became significantly more agitated when restrained in a crush compared to cattle with a hair whorl located either between or below the eyes.
Perhaps the best test of a beast's temperament is when they get a short back and sides before being housed. Cattle start to grow a shaggy coat in the autumn to help keep them warm and dry during the winter - but that can be a handicap in a warm, humid cattle shed. They sweat a lot, become uncomfortable and don't thrive the way they should.
The best solution to that problem is to shave their heads and a strip along their backs with a set of electric cattle clippers that are a bigger version of those used by a barber. About 80 per cent of their body heat is lost that way, so a good trim cools the beasts down, like taking your hat off when you're hot.
As I said, being confined in a crush can really make cattle fret, and having a haircut only adds to the drama of the situation from their perspective. So they needlessly wriggle and writhe as that four-inch wide strip is shaved bare along the middle of their back. Some go berserk when you start to shave their heads, but patience invariably wins the day as the realise it's all quite painless.
Those that struggled too much often have small tufts of hair left on their faces, but the difference between a good haircut and a bad one only lasts for about a fortnight.
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