Behavioural Traits in Bos taurus Cattle, Their Heritability, Potential Genetic Markers, and Associations with Production Traits.

Publication history: Accepted - 26 September 2022; Published online - 29 September 2022Simple Summary Cattle have the potential to seriously injure humans and cause damage to property. The risk of cattle reacting in a dangerous manner can be reduced through genetic selection for cattle which have a better temperament. A literature search was undertaken which returned papers which met the criteria of “Bovine”, “Genetics” and “Behaviour” or terms therein. Behavioural traits were grouped and their heritability, genomic associations and correlations with production traits examined. It was found that heritability estimates were more accurate in studies with large populations (n > 1000). Gene associations with behavioural traits were found on all chromosomes except for chromosome 13, with associated SNPs reported on all chromosomes except 5, 13, 17, 18 and 23. Generally, it was found that correlations between behaviour and production traits were low or negligible, suggesting that genetic improvement can be undertaken without negatively affecting production. There was variation between the results of the studies examined, and this underlines that any genetic study is population specific. Thus, to assess the heritability, genetic associations with production and genomic areas of interest for behavioural traits, a large-scale study of the population of interest would be required. Abstract People who work with cattle are at severe risk of serious injury due to the size and strength of the cattle. This risk can be minimised by breeding less dangerous cattle, which have a more favourable reaction to humans. This study provides a systematic review of literature pertaining to cattle genetics relating to behaviour. The review protocol was developed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework, with Population, Exposure and Outcome components identified as Bovine, Genetics and Behaviour respectively. Forty-nine studies were identified in the sifting and assigned non-exclusively to groups of heritability (22), genomic associations (13) and production traits related to behaviour (24). Behavioural traits were clustered into the following groups: “temperament, disposition and/ or docility”, “aggression”, “chute score”, “flight speed”, “milking temperament”, “non-restrained methods” and “restrained methods”. Fourteen papers reported high accuracy (Standard Error ≤ 0.05) estimates of heritability, the majority (n = 12) of these studies measured over 1000 animals. The heritability estimates were found to vary between studies. Gene associations with behavioural traits were found on all chromosomes except for chromosome 13, with associated SNPs reported on all chromosomes except 5, 13, 17, 18 and 23. Generally, it was found that correlations between behaviour and production traits were low or negligible. These studies suggest that additive improvement of behavioural traits in cattle is possible and would not negatively impact performance. However, the variation between studies demonstrates that the genetic relationships are population specific. Thus, to assess the heritability, genetic associations with production and genomic areas of interest for behavioural traits, a large-scale study of the population of interest would be requiredThis research was funded by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), Northern Ireland as part of the “TemperGene” project, grant number 19 1 03 (48283

Human–Animal Interactions with Bos taurus Cattle and Their Impacts on On-Farm Safety: A Systematic Review

Publication history: Accepted - 17 March 2022; Published - 19 March 2022.Simple Summary: Cattle are large animals that can cause serious injuries to humans. Humans may encounter cattle through working on farms, living on a farm, or traversing fields with cattle. A systematic review was carried out to assess the factors which may lead to a dangerous interaction with cattle. A literature search was carried out to find papers that included the criteria ‘Bovine’, ‘Handling’, ‘Behaviour’ and ‘Safety’, or terms therein. The search returned 17 papers, and after collation, six themes were identified: actions of humans; human demographics, attitude, and experience; facilities and the environment; the animal involved; under-reporting and poor records; and mitigation of dangerous interactions. Exploration of these themes shows that more accurate recording of interactions before an injury is required. Furthermore, targeted, tailored education for anyone who may come into contact with cattle could reduce cattle-induced injuries. Abstract: Cattle production necessitates potentially dangerous human–animal interactions. Cattle are physically strong, large animals that can inflict injuries on humans accidentally or through aggressive behaviour. This study provides a systematic review of literature relating to farm management practices (including humans involved, facilities, and the individual animal) associated with cattle temperament and human’s on-farm safety. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was used to frame the review. Population, Exposure, and Outcomes (PEO) components of the research question are defined as “Bovine” (population), “Handling” (exposure), and outcomes of “Behaviour”, and “Safety”. The review included 17 papers and identified six main themes: actions of humans; human demographics, attitude, and experience; facilities and the environment; the animal involved; under-reporting and poor records; and mitigation of dangerous interactions. Cattle-related incidents were found to be underreported, with contradictory advice to prevent injury. The introduction of standardised reporting and recording of incidents to clearly identify the behaviours and facilities which increase injuries could inform policy to reduce injuries. Global differences in management systems and animal types mean that it would be impractical to impose global methods of best practice to reduce the chance of injury. Thus, any recommendations should be regionally specific, easily accessible, and practicable.Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), Northern Ireland as part of the “TemperGene” project, grant number 19 1 03 (48283)