Docile Cattle

A nice group of docile red Angus CattleDocile cattle are best!

Important behaviors to beef cattle production include reactions to processing through a squeeze chute, maternal instincts at calving, newborn calf vigor, bull serving capacity, and foraging behavior.   Because these are distinctly different behaviors, different strategies are necessary to quantify differences among animals.

Among the most important of behavioral traits, temperament reflects the ease with which animals respond to handling, treatment, and routine management.  Animals with disposition problems are a safety risk to handlers, themselves, and other animals in the herd.  Disposition affects handling equipment requirements, operation liability exposure, Beef Quality Assurance, and performance.

The docility score provided below is designed to subjectively evaluate differences in disposition  when animals are  processed  through  the  squeeze  chute.   Because an animal‘s behavior can be influenced by past experiences, scoring should be conducted at weaning or yearling ages.  This will reduce the extent to which current behavior has been influenced by prior handling experiences.  Scores should be collected while calves are restrained with headgates but without having motion restricted by squeeze.





