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Dumbing Down of American Cattle
by Susan Allen, click here for bio
Program: Open Range
Date: July 10, 12
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We’ve been told our education system is dumbing down our kids, now some researchers have discovered we are dumbing down American cattle as well. I’m Susan Allen Welcome to Open Range stay tuned. Animal behaviorist report that cattle today are dumber than a decade ago because most ranchers breed for mellow cows. Calm happy cattle gain more weight , even their meat is taster then their more aggressive or high flight pasture mates but by breeding out aggressiveness can impact not only the cows but their calves ability to survive . Cornelia Florcke from Colorado State University complete a three month study researching the mothering ability of red angus and came to the conclusion that by breeding out aggressive traits needed for wilderness survival cows become less attentive mothers leaving baby calves more venerable to predators not a positive characteristic for Oregon and Idaho ranchers in wolf country. She contends that the cattle industry might want to allow more aggressive cattle to breed creating a more sustainable and independent herd. So how do you know which cows are more aggressive, Florcke says to look and see where the whorl pattern the swirl of their hair on their forehead falls. Since the 1990’s researchers like Temple Grandin found that cows with whorl patterns at or under eye level are more docile then those whose whorl pattern sit above their eyes. Flörcke suggestion is to pick breed cows with whorl patterns at or right above eye level as are typically much more alert, vocal and protective of their calves.
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