Abstract:
Proc. Aust. Soc. Anim. Prod. (1974) 10; 311 BEHAVIOUR PATTERNS OF BEEF CATTLE IN RELATION TO PRODUCTION IN THE DRY TROPICS A.C. HASSALL Summary Temperament in cattle varies between breeds, and between individuals within a breed. This paper considers the effect on animals when temperament is not properly understood during handling. This lack of understanding, tolerance, and knowledge may lead to real difficulties in management, and consequent production losses. Practical examples of the effect-of good and bad management of calves and adult animals are presented, and a case is made, pointing to man as the main cause for the so-called 'wild' animal, rather than any genetic reasons. I. DISCUSSION The generalization that animals are either wild or docile, difficult to handle, or easy to manage, leads us to the question of whether docility is an inborn quality, or whether the environment, meaning man's handling methods, is the main factor in behaviour patterns. Before we look further into this question, another question becomes relevant: does it matter to any extent as regards production of beef? If they are well fed then there should be no problems about growth. In many areas of beef production where animal husbandry methods are satisfactory, and right proportions of feed nutrients are always available, the temperament of animals presents no real problem, but in the large breeding areas of the dry tropics of Queensland where each year the normal rainless period of winter and spring imposes hardships on animals with consequent loss of condition, these conditions lead It is within this field to stresses on the temperament of the animals. of temperament variation between individuals and between different breeds that production potential may well be adversely affected. The Brahman breed is often spoken of as temperamental or prone to wildness when indifferently managed, but this is not, in my experience, the result of a bad temperament, but rather the result of timidness, accentuated by wrong handling. Suppose we watch a mob of cows and calves being driven to the They are moving along quietly, feeding spasmodically, and one yard. Some of the of the drovers gets impatient and starts cracking his whip. calves are frightened by this noise, a few turn away, then another whip The rider gives chase crack and one calf makes off away fram the mob. If a fence happens and by now the calf is really frightened and gallops. to be in its path it doesn't see it,, smashes through it and once on the The calf is now 'wild' and as long other side the rider cannot follow. A calf of any breed would as it lives, never forgets the incident. That calf, if ignored react in much the same way to this treatient. Meadowbank Station, P-0. Box 5, Mt Garnet, Queensland, 4872. 311 in the beginning, would The point is obvious: calves, and it follows cattle, irrespective-of soon have rejoined its mother and the mob. quiet and sensible handling is the key to quiet that properly handled calves grow into quiet which breed is considered. Let us consider another aspect of the fallacy called 'wildness', generally supposed to be strongly inherited. In 1950 we bought our first Brahman-type bull (Monarch), aged five years, to mate with a selection of our Shorthorn females. 'Monarch' was temperamental and had to be handled carefully and in other circumstances would certainly be classed as 'wild'. We used him for about ten seasons and his progeny were all normal animals, showing no temperamental stress. Many of these cattle later formed the nucleus of our Droughtmaster stud 'Monarch' which was formed during the latter half of the fifties. was not born wild, but lack of understanding when young or careless handling brought out the adverse qualities which are dormant in most animals, and even man himself. We introduced many more Bos Indicus bulls during the years and two purebred purchases in 1958 are worth considering. These yearling bulls`appeared to have different temperaments and one, 'Walpole', was easily handled and docile, while 'Kismet' was touchy and required watching when drafting in the yards and was -easily upset when yarding These bulls produced many calves and no temperamental difference UP* was observed between those by either one. Some years later, 'Walpole' and 'Kismet' were mustered with a group of cows and the bulls started fighting on very stoney ground. 'Walpole' tripped and went down and could not get up. We left him and yarded the mob. Later we went back to move him, without success, and it was apparent our efforts were resented and our docile bull from that day on was a different animal. He would charge any horse and rider that came too close and in the yard was 'wilder' than his 'wild' mate 'Kismet'. Once again, the point is clear - handling methods are more important than the temperament factor, though there may be occasions when only hindsight can point out the human failure to understand the animal's reaction to a given situation. There is a loss of production in individuals that race around, continually clear out and are difficult to yard up. As an extreme example, there are areas in the Cape York Peninsula and around the Gulf of Carpentaria where there are herds of cattle run wild, cannot Young be mustered, so that there is NO production from these herds. stock handled roughly resent man, keep out of his way, making drafting Persistence with rough handling leads to the production difficult. of wild adult cattle. It is stupid when bringing cattle to the stock yards during a dry time not to let them browse any small areas of green feed that may be on the way. Failure to do so will lead to their 'breaking back' to the desired green pasture, thus leading to more wasted time, Quiet but firm handling of wilder cattle, and not very happy men. The younger the stock cannot start too early in a beast's life. animal, the most susceptible it is to mishandling. 312 all lead economic cattlemen standing, These examples could be multiplied indefinitely, and would to the same conclusion: that 'wild' cattle may well be an loss, and avoidance of this loss is within the scope of we , provided we are capable of observing, learning, and underand that force alone seldom achieves satisfactory results. 313