Bad Attitudes Cost
Cow temperament affects management, reproduction and profitability.
Flighty, aggressive cattle are more difficult to handle and have other disadvantages. Studies during the past decade have shown “wild” cattle don’t grow or gain as well in the feedlot, and there is a higher incidence of “dark cutters” among wilder cattle. Recent research has shown that temperament also affects reproduction, as cows with bad dispositions have lower conception and calving rates.
Mellow temperament is important when cattle must be handled in close quarters. Even when cattle are raised in range country, where they must fend for themselves, temperament is an issue because of indirect effects on many facets of cattle production.
This has proven true at Roaring Springs Ranch, near Frenchglen, Ore., one of the larger extensive grazing operations in Oregon. This cow-calf and stocker operation utilizes more than 1 million acres for year-round grazing, eliminating use of harvested and stored feeds. Disposition is an important trait on the ranch.
“Wild temperament has a negative impact on feedlot performance and carcass performance, and those cattle are more dangerous for the crew to handle,” says Stacy Davies, ranch manager.
“When we do artificial insemination, we see increased conception in cows that have a good temperament. On an extensive range situation, temperament doesn’t have quite as much impact, but handling timid/wild cattle requires a much higher skill level in the cowboy crew. The gentler the cattle, the easier it is for the less-skilled people in the crew to handle them,” says Davies.
The ranch calves about 1,000 heifers annually, he notes. “With any that are wild, we hope we don’t have to take them through the barn. When we turn them out after they calve, it’s hard to get them to take their baby with them. We end up with some bottle calves just because mama is wild and runs off.”
A cow doesn’t have to be wild, flighty or aggressive to be a good mother. Good mothering instinct is not the same as being wild or aggressive, yet some ranchers think a cow that’s wild or mean will be a better mother.
“These traits are not correlated at all, and may be antagonistic,” says Davies. The wild cow may abandon her calf if she gets upset, or injure or kill it. She may run over it to attack a person who gets close to her.
“We do a lot of cattle work horseback, holding cattle in a group to sort out pairs. A cow that can control her fear will pick up her calf and stay with it, and be a lot easier to work in a herd situation. The ones that are wild won’t stay with their calves, and it can be challenging to sort them as pairs,” he says.
Sometimes a certain bull produces daughters with bad temperament, Davies notes. “We’ve eliminated some bulls from our program because of temperament. We work our bulls afoot in corrals. Often we’ll be working or sorting 300 to 400 bulls. Any bull that becomes difficult to handle, we eliminate from the herd, so we don’t keep those genetics.”
The ranch retains ownership on all calves.
“We obtain data on gain, as well as carcass data. The lines of hotter temperament, as well as any individuals with bad temperament, show up there with lack of gain and poor carcass quality. The percent Choice falls off up to 20% on wilder cattle. The dark cutters are almost always the wilder cattle in our operation. Incidence of severe bruising, dark cutters, Standard grade increase substantially as temperament gets hotter and wilder,” says Davies.
