Cattle behaviour in a saleyard and its potential to cause bruising

Abstract

Bruising of beef costs the Australian industry at least $A36 million each year. At the Brisbane Abattoirs, drafting and weighing, followed by unloading, had the greatest potential to inflict injury to cattle. Agonistic behaviour (butting) showed a significant difference in initiation rate between horned (0.36 per animal) or hornless (0.91 per animal) cattle. Most butting occurred in the holding yards and involved the neck (47.2%) and flank (37.8%) regions more often than the hindquarters (25.0%). During unloading, drafting and weighing, cattle frequently came into heavy contact with solid objects, particularly on the back (33.1% of contacts) and upper hindquarters (25.4%). Shading behaviour differed between British and Brahman-type cattle, with 41% of British-breeds seeking shade, whereas only 6.5% of Brahman-type cattle sought shade. Problem areas in saleyards are the unloading, drafting and weighing yards, where stockhandlers and casual labourers move cattle. These workers may, by rough and abusive handling, exacerbate behaviour which leads to damage to cattle.