Estévez-Moreno Laura X, Miranda-de la Lama Genaro C, Villarroel Morris, García Laura, Abecia José Alfonso, Santolaria Pilar, María Gustavo A
Department of Animal Production & Food Science, Agri-Food Institute of Aragon IA2, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain.
CEIGRAM, ETSIAAB-Agricultural Production, Technical University of Madrid (UPM), 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Animals (Basel). 2021 Jan 5;11(1):82. doi: 10.3390/ani11010082.
Understanding temperament is an important part of cattle production since undesirable temperament may cause serious problems associated with aggression, maternal care, and human safety. However, little is known about how farmers define or assess temperament, especially in autochthonous cattle breeds. The aim of this study was to explore perceptions of farmers about the temperament of the Pyrenean cattle breed with special attention to beef cow-calf systems in Spain. The methodology used to obtain the information was focus group discussions (FGD). Farmers defined temperament as a behavioural response to challenging situations imposed by human handling. Specific terms used were related to active or passive reactions to fear (e.g., "strong", "aggressive", "nervous", "fearful"). The speed of response to stimuli was also important. Female temperament was thought to become more docile with age while bull temperament was more variable. Maternal aggressiveness was highlighted as a potential human safety problem, but also desirable in an extensively bred animal who may need to defend calves against predators. Anatomical characteristics were seen as unreliable predictors of temperament, while behavioural indicators were more widely used, such as "alertness", which was a general trait of the breed, and "gaze", which, when associated with an alert expression, suggests a potential threat. Sensory acuity, such as sight and smell, were thought to be related with temperament in some FGDs but there was no overall agreement as to whether different behavioural responses were due to differences in sensory acuity. The results from the study could be useful during training programs or in the development of new genetic selection schemes and evaluation protocols involving cattle temperament.
了解牛的性情是养牛生产的重要组成部分，因为不良的性情可能会引发与攻击行为、母性照料以及人类安全相关的严重问题。然而，对于农民如何定义或评估牛的性情，我们知之甚少，尤其是对于本土牛品种。本研究的目的是探讨西班牙农民对比利牛斯牛品种性情的看法，特别关注肉牛母牛-犊牛养殖系统。获取信息所采用的方法是焦点小组讨论（FGD）。农民将性情定义为对人类处理所带来的具有挑战性情况的行为反应。所使用的具体术语与对恐惧的主动或被动反应有关（例如，“强壮”、“好斗”、“紧张”、“胆小”）。对刺激的反应速度也很重要。人们认为母牛的性情会随着年龄增长而变得更加温顺，而公牛的性情则更具变化性。母性攻击性被视为一个潜在的人类安全问题，但对于在野外养殖且可能需要保护犊牛免受捕食者侵害的动物来说，这也是可取的。解剖特征被视为性情的不可靠预测指标，而行为指标的使用更为广泛，例如“警觉性”，这是该品种的一个普遍特征，以及“凝视”，当与警觉表情相关联时，表明存在潜在威胁。在一些焦点小组讨论中，人们认为视觉和嗅觉等感官敏锐度与性情有关，但对于不同的行为反应是否归因于感官敏锐度的差异，并没有达成总体共识。该研究结果在培训项目中或在制定涉及牛性情的新基因选择方案和评估协议时可能会有所帮助。
