Six Basic Behavioural Traits In Cattle

Cattle exhibit various behavioural traits that require close observation.

- Izak Hofmeyr

In this article, the second in the series exploring low-stress cattle handling, we focus on the six basic behavioural traits in cattle as identified by Dr Temple Grandin, well-known livestock consultant and professor of animal sciences at Colorado State University.

Progressive ranchers and feedlot operators work hard to reduce stress on cattle during handling, says Dr Grandin. “What many people do not realise is that common low-stress cattle handling principles such as entering the flight zone to make an animal move and using the point of balance to control the animal’s direction of movement, are all based on instinctive behaviour patterns that the animals use to escape from predators.”

Cattle, she explains, are a prey species animal that have evolved behaviour patterns over many years. These patterns enable them and their wild counterparts to protect themselves from predation. “The predator avoidance behaviour patterns are hardwired into the brain and they function like bits of computer software.

“The early naturalists called these behaviour patterns instincts and modern animal behaviour specialists call them fixed action patterns,” Dr Grandin points out. “Some instinctive behaviour patterns are very rigid and fixed, and others can be modified by learning. The flehmen or lip curl of a bull is an example of a fixed pattern which requires no learning.”

The reverse flow behaviour pattern.