Relationships between temperament, feedlot performance and beef quality

Cattle express fear when exposed to human contact and novel environments or during major changes to their social structure (eg. isolation). This is manifest by changes in both their physiology (eg. increased heart rate, adrenal secretion of catecholamines and/or cortisol) and behaviour. With respect to the latter, cattle typically display escape and/or avoidance behaviour which is clearly designed to minimize or obviate the threat. The expression of this natural behaviour represents the trait commonly referred to as temperament. Fearful behaviour or temperament can be measured using a range of different tests that objectively or subjectively assess the animal’s behavioural response to a fear-eliciting situation. As stated these tests largely characterise escape and/or avoidance behaviour and range from simple subjective assessments of agitation in the crush to more complex tests (eg arena tests). Of these, the measurement of flight time, which involves measuring the time taken for an animal to break two infrared sensors 1.6 – 2 m apart on exit from a crush, is recognized as one of the more practical and objective tests for assessing temperament.