Valoración genética de unidades comportamentales en una ganadería de lidia colombiana.

An ethogram was designed to disaggregate the behaviour of fighting cattle, quantify bravery and consolidate selection. 933 females and 787 males from the Colombian cattle ranch "Ernesto González Caicedo" (EGC), Santa Coloma lineage, at Popayán, Cauca, Colombia, were analysed. The behavioral units (UC) identified were fixity (FIJ), starting distance (DIS), readiness (PRO), reloading (RGR), absence of pain (DOL), degree of jealousy (GEN), distance (RDO), humiliating (HUM), repeat (REP), lunge type (TEM), bottom (FON), strength (FZA) and absence of defects (AUD). Information was analysed with DeLidia® software, developed for this research. The CU were adjusted according to the effect of age, consanguinity, weight, sex, place, type of celebration, number of rods, bullfighter and picador. Inheritance indices, phenotypic and genetic correlations, and breeding values of stallions were estimated. The resulting h2 values for the UC FZA and REP were 0.06 ± 0.03 and 0.36 ± 0.026, respectively, with an average of 0.21 ± 0.05 for all UC. All rg were positive except for those involved with FZA. The lowest positive value of rg was 0.1 for GEN and HUM, while the highest was 0.79 for FIJ and RDO. Trends of VG were positive and different from zero (P <0.01), except FZA (-0.004 ± 0.0004). The gain per year, as a percentage part of the mean, was -0.191% for FZA and 1.024% for REP. Resultant h2 and VG suggest their usefulness in selection programs, favouring greater genetic progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]