SOCIAL STRESS AND DOMINANCE AMONG GROUP MEMBERS AFTER MIXING BEEF COWS
Three groups of 10 spring-calving Angus and Hereford purebred and crossbred cows were placed in drylot paddocks from mid-November until calving to determine the influence of mixing mature beef cows from two different sources on social behavior and stress. Two Angus cows from an outside herd (alien cows) were placed in each paddock, and eight cows selected from the resident herd were added 1 d later. Agonistic behavior was recorded during a total of 21 30-min observation sessions over a period of 13 wk. Blood samples were drawn on days 2, 28 and 84 after penning and analyzed for cortisol, glucose and differential leucocyte counts. Breed-origin influenced (P < 0.01) social dominance values, which averaged 49.8, 48.7, 40.1 and 35.0 for crossbred, resident Angus, Hereford and alien Angus cows, respectively. Alien Angus received the most aggression during the first observation period (0–36 d after mixing) and initiated less aggression throughout the study as compared to resident cows. Physiological measures did not differ due to breed-origin, group or sample day, but there was a significant sample day × breed-origin effect for cortisol (P < 0.01), with levels for the cows from the most socially subordinate groups, alien Angus and Hereford, increasing over the sample days. The increasing cortisol values may have indicated cumulative social stress on the social subordinates within the groups. Other physiological variables, however, did not show a similar trend. We conclude that when small numbers of cattle from different sources are mixed the aliens are at a social disadvantage, and we speculate that under some conditions social stress on aliens and(or) subordinates may be additive over time. Key words: Cattle (beef), agonistic behavior, social stress, mixing, cortisol, immunocompetence