Limousin Heart Beat
Official Publication of the heartland Limousin Association • Nov/Dec 2013
Temperament Plays Key Role in Cattle Health
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USDA and university scientists have found cattle temperament influences how animals should be handled, how they perform and how they respond to disease. The team of researchers looked at stressful events – such as weaning, transportation and vaccination – that beef cattle experience during routine management practices, according to a news release from the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS). The researchers examined interrelationships of stress and cattle temperament with transportation, immune challenges and production traits. Between 24-36 calves were used for each study, depending on the trial. An exit velocity system, which measures the rate at which an animal exits a squeeze chute and crosses a certain distance, was used to select for temperament. A pen-scoring system was used in conjunction with exit velocity to calculate an overall temperament score for cattle selected as the calmest, the most temperamental or as intermediate. When challenged with a bacterial toxin, cattle showed dramatic differences in sickness behavior, depending on their temperament. The most temperamental animals failed to show behaviors that allow detection of sick animals,
whereas calm animals immediately displayed visual signs and became ill. Studies also revealed temperamental cattle did not have the same vigorous immunological response to a vaccine as less temperamental cattle in the same herd. Studies were conducted by animal scientist and research leader Jeff Carroll at the ARS Livestock Issues Research Unit (LIRU) in Lubbock, TX; associated research professor Rhonda Vann at Mississippi State University’s Brown Loam Branch Experiment Station; animal physiologist Ron Randel at Texas AgriLife Research, Texas A&M University System, and endocrinologist Tom Welsh, also
of Texas A&M AgriLife Research. In related research, the team Continued on page 3.
Bad Temper Can Equal Poor Performance
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Limi-Gene...........................4 Linhart Limousin.................5 MC Marketing Management
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The Limousin breed has worked hard to improve the docility in their cattle. As you can see from this photo, great strides have been made in this EPD.
Schilling Limousin.............15 Symens Brothers..............13
Time Dated Material
Volume 21 • Issue 5
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Heartland Limousin Association 23244 Gopher Drive East Bethel, MN 55005
Treftz Limousin.................19
Temperamental cattle can be a hazard to themselves and to the people handling them as well as to other cattle. Continued on page 3.