Observations on group mating of bulls at pasture |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Division of Metabolic Diseases, Beatrix Children''s Hospital, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands;2. Department of Clinical Child and Adolescents Studies, Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands;3. Department of Developmental and Clinical Neuropsychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands;4. Department of Pediatrics, Emma Children''s Hospital, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;5. Department of Internal Medicine, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;6. Department of Pediatrics, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands;7. Department of Internal Medicine and Endocrinology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands;8. Wilhelmina Children''s Hospital, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands;9. Department of Pediatrics, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands;10. Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands;11. Department of Pediatrics, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands;12. Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands;1. Department of Animal and Food Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater 74078;2. Livestock and Forestry Research Station, Division of Agriculture, University of Arkansas, Batesville 72501;3. Department of Animal Science, Division of Agriculture, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville 72701;1. Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland;2. Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland;3. Mymetics SA, Epalinges, Switzerland;4. Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property, Bern, Switzerland;5. Institute of Anatomy, University of Zürich, Switzerland;6. Institute of Human Movement Sciences and Sport, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland;7. Division of Thoracic Surgery, University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland;8. Department of Clinical Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland |
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| Abstract: | This paper describes five experiments on the socio-sexual behaviour of beef bulls mated as a group to a herd of cows. A rapid, accurate method of estimating the social dominance order (SDO) in a bull group was developed. Using this method it was found that (i) a bull's ranking in a group with a stable SDO was significantly related to its sexual activity but it was not in a group with an unstable SDO, and (ii) seniority, and to a lesser extent age, maintained the social ranking in a mixed-age group of bulls. Mixed-age groups of bulls when mated to cow herds achieved lower pregnancy rates than groups of bulls of the same age. The penalties associated with using a mixed-age bull group for group mating are discussed. |
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