Behavioural characteristics of two dairy breeds of cows selected (Herens) or not (Brune des Alpes) for fighting and dominance ability

Two breeds of dairy cattle, one selected for intra-specific fighting and do minance ability (Herens, H), the other not selected for this behavioural tr ait (Brune des Alpes, BA), submitted to the same management techniques, wer e compared with respect to their social behaviour (dominance, agonistic beh aviour, social tolerance, social motivation, social distance), fear reactio ns, ease of handling and physiological correlates. As expected, cows from the H breed were dominant over the BA cows, they wer e also less fearful either in response to novel objects or in surprise effe ct tests and had higher social distances at pasture. On the contrary, H cows were less aggressive in undisturbed groups and more tolerant in a food competition test than BA cows. There were no difference s: between the two breeds either in aggressive acts in encounters with unfa miliar animals, or in persistence in conflict situations. Furthermore, H cows were less easy to handle in a standardised test, and te nded to be less socially motivated than BA cows. Lastly, H cows had higher plasma testosterone levels, and tended to present a lower increase in plasm a cortisol level after a surprise effect than BA cows. Thus, the breeders' selection for fighting and dominance ability in H breed appears to have led to several behavioural and hormonal changes. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.