NEW ZEALAND-CHAROLAIS CATTLE.
CHAROLAIS stud breeders have been doing a lot of work recently to ensure the best possible genetics are available to commercial farmers in New Zealand.
A big focus has been working on temperament through the docility scoring system. Bad temperament can be caused by a whole range of factors.
Docility EBVs (estimated breeding values) are estimates of genetic differences between animals in temperament. They are calculated from docility scores recorded when the animals are between 60 and 400 days old.
Docility in cattle relates to the way cattle behave when being handled by humans or put in an unusual environment such as being separated from the mob in a small yard. Poor docility is a survival trait in the wild – fear of anything unusual and the urge to escape. In domesticated cattle it is exhibited as flightiness. Docility is a highly heritable trait and can be improved genetically.
The recommended time of scoring is at weaning or shortly afterwards. The advantage of scoring at weaning is that all calves should have had similar treatment so variation in handling prior to scoring should be minimised.
Animals can be scored for temperament using either a yard or crush test.
In a yard test the calves are individually put into a small square yard and the handler should attempt to hold the animal in one corner for about 30 seconds.
In a crush test the calves are put up a race and individually held in the crush for about 30 seconds.
When using either the crush or yard test, the behaviour of animals should be observed and animals ranked using the following scores:
1 Docile: A mild disposition, gentle and easily handled, stands and moves slowly during handling, undisturbed, settled, somewhat dull, does not pull on headgate when in crush, exits crush calmly.
2 Restless: Quieter than average but slightly restless, may be stubborn during handling, may try to back out of crush, pulls back on headgate, some flicking of tail, exits crush promptly.
3 Nervous: Manageable but nervous and impatient, a moderate amount of struggling, movement and tail flicking, repeated pushing and pulling on headgate, exits crush briskly.
4 Flighty: Jumpy and out of control, quivers and struggles violently, may bellow and froth at mouth, continuous tail
flicking, defecates and urinates during handling, frantically runs fence line and may jump when penned individually, exhibits long flight distance and exits crush wildly.
5 Aggressive: May be similar to score 4 but with added aggressive behaviour, fearful, extreme agitation, continuous movement which may include jumping and bellowing while in crush, exits crush frantically and may exhibit attack behaviour when handled alone.
There needs to be variation in the scores for them to be used effectively by the Breedplan docility scoring system analysis. That is, scoring all animals in a group with a docility score of 1 will not identify any genetic differences in docility.
When recording docility scores, it is important that both a consistent scoring method is used and the same person scores all animals that are being assessed in the herd on that particular day.
Bulls with a desired docility score of grade 1 or 2 will be the only ones that make acceptable candidates to go into the Charolais bull evaluation unit and on to Beef Expo.
bsavage@clear.net.nz
