Quality of handling in the corral affects the reactivity of Nellore heifers
One of the main factors influencing the behavior and welfare of beef cattle is related to the way the animals are handled. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the quality of handling in the corral (QH) on Nellore heifers (n = 571) reactivity. The records were taken at the insemination day of a FTAI protocol. QH was assessed by recording (for each individual heifer) the occurrences of negative handling actions (NHA), defined by the following actions: Hitting the gate against the heifer body; hitting or prodding the animals with a stick; twisting the animal's tail. A binomial variable (NHA occurrence = 1, or NHA non-occurrence = 0) was later defined. Two reactivity traits were assessed: The reactivity score test (RS), defined as the sum of the six following scores, movement (ranging from 1= no movement to 5 = animal jumps), tension (from 1= relaxed to 4= freezing), breathing (1= not audible or audible = 2), body posture (1= standing, 2= kneeling, or 3 = lying down), vocalizations (0= absence or 1= presence), and kicking (0= absence or 1= presence), which were recorded in the first 4s after each animal enter into the squeeze chute, without using any restraining devices; and the flight speed test (FS), measuring the speed the cattle leave the squeeze chute after being inseminated, considering the fastest animal as the most reactive. The PROC MIXED of SAS was used to test the effects of NHA on RS and FS, considering the fixed effects of NHA and the random effects of lot and entrance order. Significant effects of NHA were observed in both reactivity traits FS (F1,547 = 6.55, P = 0.011) and RS (F1,546 = 6.09, P = 0.014). The heifers that faced NHA had higher means for both traits (RS = 4.20 ? 0.20 and FS = 2.56 ? 0.20) than those which did not (RS= 3.73 ? 0.13 and FS = 2.30 ? 0.20). The results suggest that cattle facing poor quality of handling tend to be more reactive, and this has practical implications, since it is well known that more reactive cattle during handling can lead to a higher risk of labor accidents.