Angus temperment

[vclavin]

We shipped the last "crazy" animal years ago. Our vet called the the "B" word - we check temperament of AI sires by calling the owners of the bulls to check the temperament of his calves. Won't use him if he sires even "once in awhile" crazies. We also do not "pet" the bulls , they are hand fed and treated with respect. They in turn, respect us. I've heard more folk are killed by a 'gentle' bull as they "know" to stay clear of mean ones. You still have to keep an eye out for the gentle ones as well, they can still hurt you even if it's not purposely done.
Keep in mind, carcass quality is hindered by crazy temperaments.
Valerie

 

[Idaman]

A wild bull or cow is usually giving you a warning about not getting too close. They are easy to spot and you just prepare. My closest call was being pinned to a gate by a bull that wasn't wild and had never before shown aggressiveness. He never gave warnings but just wheeled and lunged.

We move cattle with a neighbor who has absolutely dog gentle cows but nearly every drive some old cow will race out of the herd without any warning and hit your horse at full speed. It makes my older son so mad that he usually just heels them when they turn around and sees just how hard he can make them hit the ground. He even got a part pitbull to help with the retaliation. One time an old cow came out of the willows and hit him on his best heeling horse. A few minutes later they were going along a narrow road that had about a 20 foot bank on the lower side. He waited until that same old cow was walking along the edge of the road above that bank and then he heeled her and jerked her legs in the right direction to topple her over that bank. She rolled four or five times down the bank and into the creek while he had his revenge laugh.

Right after college my roommate in college was killed by a gentle young Holstein bull. Gored through the heart.

In my opinion there is no more dangerous time around cattle than when you have a bunch of bulls corraled for working or loading. When one chases another one you had better be out of the way no matter how far away they are when they start the fight. I saw a bull being chased get straddle of a five wire fence and take out four or five good cedar posts before he got clear.

 

[bobby]

Go to www.angus.org/Nce/Research/DocilitySires.aspx for black angus docility epds.

 

[alftn]

Never had a Black Angus that I thought was Mean, either bull or cows...Have had both that I take care around at certain times, cows with newborn are to be respected at all times, period....Bulls at all times and more so when cornered...Or pushed....I have heard that Simms, Limms, Brangus, Gerts, Brimmers all are wild, I DO NOT KNOW, never dealt with them....

Black Angus are more head strong than Herefords , I guess that is why I love Polled Herefords Bulls....No that aint it It is them black baldies calves.....

 

[dun]

Discussed this with the vet the other evening when he stopped by. EXT gets a lot of press about bad temperment. Vet has had a number of them over the years including an EXT daughter and her EXT dauther and her EXT daughter. The third one left not because of diposition but because she was a tiny little thing that couldn;t raise a decent calf. Over the years he used EXT a lot and not on just that family. He maintanes that the EXT daughters are fine, but EXT grandaughters tend to be flighty. He has also noticed that our calves are much calmer then his after weaning. He thinks it's because his don;t adapt to change very well. Claims to have seen that in a number of other angus herds as well.
To me that not handling change sounds more like Brahman trait then angus. But since he sees thousands of them a year I accept his judgement.

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

Only experience we've had with Angus is when two cows (different times) estrayed through our front gate and we had to get them into our corral so owner could pick them up. They were totally nut cases and one bent one of our gates.

That aside,

I have heard from the "experts" that temperament is about 40% heritable.

The other issue with temperament is HOW one works them! The old Wild West Movies of whooping and hollering may have looked good in the movies on a 100,000 acre ranch; however, you end up with a lot of people unsocialized animals...

Temple Grandin has a lot of good advice on cattle handling...

Any animal species can "read" human's body language very well. Animals DO think...sometimes humans don't...lol.

We use voice commands and hand signals to work our Longhorns, along with using "flight zone pressure points" to move them. We also use a "dominant" female to gather up the rest on occasion.

Cattle, like dogs, need to be socialized with and by people. They need to know you are "their friend" and not an enemy predator (or other "abuser"). It's the old Golden Rule concept.

Of course, there is the occasional "Nut Case" that no amount of TLC, socializing will make them "nice"...those need to go to the Sale Barn or your freezer (or a lead bolus).

:cboy:

 

[tel]

the property where the mean tempered angus and santa was only 6,000 acres all up .it was actually 2 properties with a small mountain range between them.on the main property where i lived we had a lane that went right through the place ,so it was very easy to push them up quietly.unfortunatley a couple of the back paddocks had a few gullies for the angus to get into as soon as he saw you coming.we had a few bulls from both breeds as well as 2 herefords most of the time .the rest of the bulls were fine to bring home ,we actually had a ex show bull called Randolf who used to try to bring himself home when he'd had enough .Usually when we had new flighty bulls i just put them up near the house with randolf or my old poddy steers and they would just settle down.But if they show a nasty trait they should go.I really miss my old life and my cattle even though i hardly owned any of them at any time.Just looking after someone elses tax write off ha!

 

[6M Ranch]

Spend some time around your cattle, makes a huge difference. Get them used to having you around. A few years ago, we went to a large Angus operation to find a heifer for our daughter. They were separated in HUGE pens, about fifty in a group. When we were in there looking at them, they would run (stampede) from one end to the other. Ended up buying one, brought her home, and within a few days of simple proximity, she was able to halter her and ended up showing her that year. Some cattle are crazy, they go to sale barn. The rest will eventually get used to you. IMO, Charolais seem to be the worst, as far as temperament.

 

[Ryder]

Spend some time around your cattle, makes a huge difference. Get them used to having you around. A few years ago, we went to a large Angus operation to find a heifer for our daughter. They were separated in HUGE pens, about fifty in a group. When we were in there looking at them, they would run (stampede) from one end to the other. Ended up buying one, brought her home, and within a few days of simple proximity, she was able to halter her and ended up showing her that year. Some cattle are crazy, they go to sale barn. The rest will eventually get used to you. IMO, Charolais seem to be the worst, as far as temperament.

When one runs, there goes the whole bunch.
A waste of time and energy is to try to run to head one off when you are afoot. I'm sure you have experienced this.

 

[6M Ranch]

In that particular visit, we weren't trying to head them off, just get within 100 feet to get a look at them. I've never seen cattle that skittish.