A note on the effect of castration on the ease of movement and handling of young cattle in yards

Abstract

The ease with which cattle can be handled during routine husbandry operations is a major concern to producers. Ease of handling is difficult to define but includes the case with which cattle can be moved through yards, through a race or held in a crush or scales. Few studies have attempted to measure ‘ease of handling’ of animals. ‘Temperament scores’ of cattle of various breeds, sexes and ages based on the scoring system originally described by Tulloh (1961) were recorded by Hearnshaw, Barlow and Want (1979). These scores were highly repeatable between scorers and within animals although some decline in scores occurred with repeated measurements. Hearnshaw et al. (1979) suggested that the scores were a measurement of ease of handling rather than temperament.