Search

Effect of temperament on milk yield, lactation length, physico-chemical properties and somatic cell count of Lacaune ewes were evaluated. The investigation was carried out at a sheep farm in the county of Győr-Moson-Sopron. The temperament of 106 Lacaune ewes was measured by the temperament 5-point-scale test (1=very nervous, 5=very quiet) during milking. Furthermore, 42 ewes were randomly selected from a herd of 106 animals for the analysis of milk composition (fat, protein and lactose), pH, electrical conductivity as well as somatic cell count. It was found that the temperament had a significant effect on lactation length and lactation milk production, lactose, electrical conductivity and somatic cell count. Calm ewes had significantly longer lactation (4 score: 220.7 day; 5 score: 201.4 day) as well as higher milk production (4 score: 207.9 kg; 5 score: 193.3 kg) compared to more temperamental animals (2+3 scores: 166.5 day and 135.5 kg; P

The aim of present study was to investigate the relationships between temperament score and milk production, as well as somatic cell count in a herd of Jersey and Holstein Friesian breeds. The temperament of 283 Jersey and 69 Holstein Friesian cows were assessed (scored) by the temperament score test (behaviour of animals was assessed in a 5-score system (1: calm, 5: nervous) while spending 30 s on the scale during weighing). The daily milk yield, fat, protein content and somatic cell count were also investigated in this study. Our investigation did not reveal any correlation between daily milk yield and temperament score. But milk somatic cell count was showed positive moderate relation with the temperament scores of Jersey (rrank=0.67; P=0.0001) and Holstein Friesian (rrank=0.66; P=0.0001) cows. Calmer cows had lower somatic cell count (Jersey: 135.40×103/cm3; Holstein Friesian: 176.07×103/cm3) compared to the more temperamental cows (Jersey: 540.44×103/cm3; P=0.0001; Holstein Friesian: 744.91×103/cm3; P=0.0001, resp.).

The aims of present study were to investigate the relationship between temperament score and cortisol and lactic acid levels of blood, as well as the effect of temperament on the maternal ability traits (milk production, lamb preweaning gain) and the postweaning growth of lambs in Tsigai breed. The temperament of thirty-one Tsigai ewes was scored by the temperament score test (behaviour of animals was assessed in a 5-score system (1: calm, 5: nervous) while spending 30 s on the scale during weighing), in addition, the cortisol level and the lactic acid concentration of blood were measured at weaning. The weaning weight, temperament, cortisol concentration, the pre- and the postweaning weight gain of lambs were also investigated in this study. The cortisol level and lactic acid concentration were highly related to the temperament scores of ewes (rrank=0.79, P

We evaluated temperament of sheep using two temperament tests: temperament score test and flight test. Temperament score test: behaviour of animals was assessed in a 5-score system while weighing, spending 30 s on the scale. Flight time test: the time taken by an animal to move a set distance (1.7 m) after exiting a weighing scale into an open yard. 10 rams, 22 ewes Hungarian Merino, 13 rams, 19 ewes German Merino and 12 rams, 16 ewes German Blackhead lambs were lot-fed on 49 days, after weaning. The temperament score test was not related to the weight at weaning, therefore the measurement of the temperament was not affected by the weaning process (P>0.10). The gender not affected the temperament scores in either of observations or genotypes. In this investigation German Blackhead lambs were calmer, than Hungarian Merino lambs. The evaluation of the effects of temperament (temperament score test [TS] and flight time test [FT]) on body weight showed that lambs with calm temperament had higher weight at the end of fattening (TS: 44.88 kg and FT: 42.37 kg) and higher average daily weight gain as well (TS: 492.18 g/day and FT: 430.03 g/day), compared to nervous animals (TS: 36.20 kg and 330.08 g/day, P

From the 1990s, extensive research was started on the physiological aspects of individual traits in animals. Previous research has established two extreme (proactive and reactive) coping styles in several animal species, but the means of reactivity with the autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity has not yet been investigated in cattle. The aim of this study was the characterization of cardiac autonomic activity under different conditions in cows with different individual characteristics. For this purpose, we investigated heart rate and ANS-related heart rate variability (HRV) parameters of dairy cows (N = 282) on smaller- and larger-scale farms grouped by (1) temperament and (2) behavioural reactivity to humans (BRH). Animals with high BRH scores were defined as impulsive, while animals with low BRH scores were defined as reserved. Cardiac parameters were calculated for undisturbed lying (baseline) and for milking bouts, the latter with the presence of an unfamiliar person (stressful situation). Sympathetic tone was higher, while vagal activity was lower in temperamental cows than in calm animals during rest both on smaller- and larger-scale farms. During milking, HRV parameters were indicative of a higher sympathetic and a lower vagal activity of temperamental cows as compared to calm ones in farms of both sizes. Basal heart rate did not differ between BRH groups either on smaller- or larger-scale farms. Differences between basal ANS activity of impulsive and reserved cows reflected a higher resting vagal and lower sympathetic activity of reserved animals compared to impulsive ones both on smaller- and larger-scale farms. There was no difference either in heart rate or in HRV parameters between groups during milking neither in smaller- nor in larger-scale farms. These two groupings allowed to draw possible parallels between personality and cardiac autonomic activity during both rest and milking in dairy cows. Heart rate and HRV seem to be useful for characterisation of physiological differences related to temperament and BRH.

Aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of temperament on certain metabolic parameters (cortisol, glucose, serum fructosamine, triglyceride, albumin, total protein, urea), as well as daily weight gain in fattening lambs. Eight calm (score 1) and eight nervous (score 4 and 5) German Mutton Merino ram lambs were involved in the investigation on a sheep farm. Lambs' temperament was evaluated by a temperament test (movements of animals wereassessed in 5-score systemduring weighing - from 1: calm, to 5: nervous - while spending 30 sec on the scale) at three times: 1st, 20th and 40th days of the 40- day experiment. The blood samples were takenimmediately after temperament scoring. The calmer lambs had lower (P < 0.05) concentrations of plasma cortisol (17.11 nmol/l), serum fructosamine (346.53 mumol/l), triglyceride (0.214 mmol/l), and urea (3.31 mmol/l) as well. In addition calm lambs had higher (P < 0.05)daily weight gain (466.67 g/day), compared to the nervous animals (25.13 nmol/l, 503.76μmol/l, 0.275 mmol/l, 5.51mmol/l and 345.36 g/day, respectively). These results suggested that lambs' blood biochemical parameters influenced by temperament, nervous and calm lambs differ in carbohydrate, lipid and protein metabolism, demonstrated by an increase in urea, triglyceride and serum fructosamine in nervous lambs.

Jednim z hlavnich temat aplikovane etologie je welfare zviřat. Jedna se o primarni schopnost zviřat adaptovat se jak na vnějsi vlivy, zahrnujici ustajeni, management, pocasi, přitomnost ostatnich zviřat, tak vnitřni vlivy. Temperament se stal jednim z důležitých faktorů zjisťovani welfare skotu. Je definovan jako typ a mira reakce k environmentalnim podnětům a je hodnocen jako odezva chovani zviřat na zachazeni s nimi. U dojených krav se temperament nejcastěji hodnoti v dojirně. Měřeni je založeno hlavně na linearni stupnici a hodnoti se subjektivně v různých bodovacich systemech.Prezentovana prace popisuje reakce holstýnsko-frizských krav dojených v rybinove dojirně v podminkach mlecne farmy po dobu cele laktace. Cilem prace bylo zjistit změny v temperamentu před a soucasně během dojeni a vyhodnotit korelacni zavislosti mezi těmito dvěma měřenými okamžiky a mezi temperamentem a produkci mleka. Pozorovani bylo provaděno na 17 prvotelkach v průběhu jejich cele laktace od prosince 2005 do listopadu 2006. Kravy se nachazely v ranem stadiu laktace. Hodnoceni probihalo v průběhu ranniho dojeni v rybinove dojirně týden před kontrolnimi odběry mleka každý měsic v laktaci. Temperament byl měřen 1-5bodovou stupnici během připravy vemene a v průběhu dojeni. Vliv měsice na temperament byl analyzovan pomoci Friedmanova ANOVA testu. Vztah mezi temperamentem před a při dojeni a asociace temperamentu s produkci mleka byl hodnocen Spearmanovým korelacnim testem.Byly prokazany změny temperamentu během laktace při připravě vemene na dojeni (P 0,10). Statisticky významne korelacni koeficienty byly zjistěny mezi temperamentem a množstvim mleka v průběhu cele laktace (r = -0,17; P < 0,05) a mezi průtokem mleka a temperamentem v zimnim obdobi (r = 0,31; P < 0,05).