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Home / Equine Research Bank / Animals (Basel) / Behavioral and Physiological Responses of Calves to Marshall...
Animals : an open access journal from MDPI2016; 6(5); doi: 10.3390/ani6050030

Behavioral and Physiological Responses of Calves to Marshalling and Roping in a Simulated Rodeo Event.

Abstract: Rodeos are public events at which stockpeople face tests of their ability to manage cattle and horses, some of which relate directly to rangeland cattle husbandry. One of these is calf roping, in which a calf released from a chute is pursued by a horse and rider, who lassoes, lifts and drops the calf to the ground and finally ties it around the legs. Measurements were made of behavior and stress responses of ten rodeo-naïve calves marshalled by a horse and rider, and ten rodeo-experienced calves that were roped. Naïve calves marshalled by a horse and rider traversed the arena slowly, whereas rodeo-experienced calves ran rapidly until roped. Each activity was repeated once after two hours. Blood samples taken before and after each activity demonstrated increased cortisol, epinephrine and nor-epinephrine in both groups. However, there was no evidence of a continued increase in stress hormones in either group by the start of the repeated activity, suggesting that the elevated stress hormones were not a response to a prolonged effect of the initial blood sampling. It is concluded that both the marshalling of calves naïve to the roping chute by stockpeople and the roping and dropping of experienced calves are stressful in a simulated rodeo calf roping event.
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Publication Date: 2016-04-28 PubMed ID: 27136590PubMed Central: PMC4880847DOI: 10.3390/ani6050030Google Scholar: Lookup
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  • Journal Article

Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

This research analyzes the stress response of calves during a simulated rodeo event, specifically focusing on the events of marshalling and calf roping. Findings indicate that both activities cause increased stress hormones in the calves, but do not seem to have a prolonged impact.

Methods and Participants

  • The study examined the stress and behavior responses of two groups of calves: ten that had no rodeo experience (naïve calves) and ten that had prior exposure to rodeo events.
  • Behavioral responses were measured by observing the movement of the calves in the arena. Naïve calves were directed by a horse and rider (marshalled), while experienced calves were lassoed and roped.
  • This process was repeated after an interval of two hours.

Measurements

  • Physical stress responses were measured by taking blood samples from the calves both before and after each of the activities. These blood samples were then evaluated for levels of cortisol, epinephrine, and nor-epinephrine, hormones that are commonly associated with stress responses in animals.

Findings

  • The researchers observed that naïve calves moved slower when marshalled by a rider, while experienced calves ran rapidly until they were roped.
  • Following both marshalling and roping, there were increases in cortisol, epinephrine, and nor-epinephrine levels in both groups. These elevated levels indicate that both activities induce a stress response in the calves.
  • Interestingly, however, there was not a continued increase in these stress hormone levels in either group by the time the activities were repeated. This suggests that the initial blood sampling did not result in a prolonged effect of elevated stress hormones.

Conclusions

  • The researchers concluded that both the marshalling of naïve calves and the roping and dropping of experienced calves in a simulated rodeo event are stressful activities for the animals.
  • The absence of a continued elevation in stress hormones does not diminish the significance of the initial stress response and the resulting well-being concerns of the calves involved in these rodeo events.

Cite This Article

APA
Sinclair M, Keeley T, Lefebvre AC, Phillips CJ. (2016). Behavioral and Physiological Responses of Calves to Marshalling and Roping in a Simulated Rodeo Event. Animals (Basel), 6(5). https://doi.org/10.3390/ani6050030

Publication

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
ISSN: 2076-2615
NlmUniqueID: 101635614
Country: Switzerland
Language: English
Volume: 6
Issue: 5

Researcher Affiliations

Sinclair, Michelle
  • Centre for Animal Welfare and Ethics, School of Veterinary Sciences, The University of Queensland, Gatton, Queensland 4343, Australia. m.sinclair6@uq.edu.au.
Keeley, Tamara
  • School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Gatton, Queensland 4343, Australia. t.keeley@uq.edu.au.
Lefebvre, Anne-Cecile
  • Centre for Animal Welfare and Ethics, School of Veterinary Sciences, The University of Queensland, Gatton, Queensland 4343, Australia. a.lefebvre_12@envt.fr.
  • École Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse, Toulouse University, Toulouse 3115, France. a.lefebvre_12@envt.fr.
Phillips, Clive J C
  • Centre for Animal Welfare and Ethics, School of Veterinary Sciences, The University of Queensland, Gatton, Queensland 4343, Australia. c.phillips@uq.edu.au.

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Citations

This article has been cited 4 times.
  1. Caceres S, Moreno J, Crespo B, Silvan G, Illera JC. Physiological Stress Responses in Cattle Used in the Spanish Rodeo. Animals (Basel) 2023 Aug 17;13(16).
    doi: 10.3390/ani13162654pubmed: 37627445google scholar: lookup
  2. Dixon S, Evans D, Vindevoghel T, Ward MP, Quain A. Behaviours Expressed by Rodeo Calves during Different Phases of Roping. Animals (Basel) 2023 Jan 19;13(3).
    doi: 10.3390/ani13030343pubmed: 36766233google scholar: lookup
  3. Stonebridge M, Evans D, Kotzmann J. Sentience Matters: Analysing the Regulation of Calf-Roping in Australian Rodeos. Animals (Basel) 2022 Apr 20;12(9).
    doi: 10.3390/ani12091071pubmed: 35565498google scholar: lookup
  4. Rizzuto S, Evans D, Wilson B, McGreevy P. Exploring the Use of a Qualitative Behavioural Assessment Approach to Assess Emotional State of Calves in Rodeos. Animals (Basel) 2020 Jan 10;10(1).
    doi: 10.3390/ani10010113pubmed: 31936755google scholar: lookup
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