Docility in beef cattle breeding: how scientists and breeders match their view?
2009
Pellegrini, Patricia | Benhajali, Haifa | Boivin, Xavier | Sapa, Jean | Phocas, Florence
To contribute to sustainable cattle breeding, French anthropologists, ethologists and geneticists have collaborated* since 2007 to explore animal docility, meaning acceptation of handling by humans, as a way to improve both breeder and animal welfare. The current changes in husbandry systems reduce the opportunities for animals to become familiar with humans and increase their risk of perceiving handling as stressful. Genetic selection based on reduced fearfulness towards humans could therefore be an important way to improve welfare. The French Limousin Breeding Association recruited 25 breeders for helping scientists to construct a selection criterion for calf docility. On one hand, a behavioural test was performed on 2000 Limousin calves in order to find an easy method to quantify on farm the calf docility and its genetic variability. Calves were tested during restraint in a weighing crate. Their reaction was scored according to the quantity and the rush of their movements. On a second hand, comprehensive, individual and semistructured interviews were conducted to identify how the 25 breeders take care of their animals and to gather their opinion about docility, their breeding practices and know-how. The purpose of these interviews is to understand whether or not animal welfare and sustainable breeding concepts are relevant to breeders and the way they may define them. The results of this anthropologic study as well as the background and the device of the test are presented.
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