Dr. Kristina Horback, an associate professor in the Department of Animal Science at University of California, Davis, has always been fascinated by the lives, and more specifically the minds of cattle. Growing up in the Bay Area, she would travel past ranches, captivated by the sight of cattle grazing on distant hills, and often wondered how these animals navigated the expansive rangelands.

“I was always curious about why the cows were up there on the hill or why they were down the hill,” said Dr. Horback.

Now with a new study that she is a senior author on, she has some answers to those questions of why cattle graze in the way they do. The study, which was recently published in the journal, Scientific Reports, is the latest in Dr. Horback’s research which aims to better understand the minds of animals. Maggie Creamer, who was a grad student at UC Davis at the time of the study was conducted and now is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Clinical Sciences at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine, also worked on the study and both researchers hope that their findings could help ranchers to gain a deeper understanding of cattle grazing personalities, which ultimately might translate to more sustainable rangelands.

“I love that it's not just random where they graze,” said Dr. Horback. “They don’t just blindly follow each other and chew grass, which is the stereotype most people think of cows.”

Learning about cattle from the ground up 

Individual grazing patterns among cattle can contribute to land use sustainability, yet little is known about their consistency, which highlights the need to address this knowledge gap. And so, to discover more about cattle behavior, the duo’s research focused on finding practical ways to observe behavioral differences in cows on large, open rangelands where direct interaction is limited.

 “We wanted to know if some cattle were more active than others and will take the challenge and climb a really big hill and are there some that won’t even bother and stay on low ground,” said Dr. Horback. “If we can use that science to understand differences in grazing than that’s differences in land use. Let’s understand the animals themselves and how are they deciding on where they go.”

Dr. Horback and Creamer set out to determine whether behaviors from experimental behavior tests, that are practical to implement on most ranches, were in fact related to grazing patterns on rangeland. 

The study was conducted over two years at the UC Sierra Foothill Research and Extension Center in Browns Valley where 50 pregnant Angus and Hereford beef cows, that ranged in ages from two to eight years old, were studied. Each one was fitted with GPS collars that tracked their movement across a 625-acre site, which is a mix of grassland and treed areas. The elevation ranged from 600 to 2,028 feet.

“We wanted to get an idea of their grazing patterns and what they were doing day to day and how they were using the land,” said Creamer.

In addition to being tracked on where they graze, the cattle underwent three experimental behavior tests: chute handling, social-feed trade-off and a novel item test.

The chute handling test consisted of a narrow chute and a hydraulic squeeze. Several cameras were set up along the way to monitor the cows’ behavior before and after they entered the chute. 

This test was specifically chosen because it mirrors the infrastructure found on many working ranches. Since most ranches use a chute and hydraulic squeeze to isolate cows for health checks, such as vaccinations and pregnancy checks, incorporating these elements into behavioral tests is crucial for ensuring that cattle behavior research translates effectively to real-world ranching practices.

“Every detail was analyzed, and attention was paid to who went first into the chute, middle and last and how they behaved when they were left alone and how they behaved in isolation and which way they went after exiting the chute,” said Dr. Horback. “All of this subtle behavior we captured on video was to try understand, is there anything that we can learn from their behavior in this slightly stress-inducing context.”

Creamer added, “Chute score and exit duration are two big temperament measures that are used in cattle. So, we were kind of trying to emulate those two by having them in the squeeze chute by themselves, although we didn't squeeze it, which is what they typically do for chute score. And then they came out of the chute, that flight speed, or how quickly they moved out of that stressful environment, is another score that we used.”

The findings from these tests provided new insights into some of a cow’s cognitive processes and their grazing behavior.

“We found that those cows which were calm and slow to move through a chute system grazed at higher elevations and were further from water sources,” said Dr. Horback. “This is in contrast to cows which were agitated in the chute—they clumped together on the range and grazed near water sources.”

Next, they looked at the social-feed-trade-off test, which was a choice between fellow cows and a feed item or supplement and a novel item test which involved a choice between their fellow cows and a feed bucket with different items around it or a different colored bucket than they were accustomed to, something that offered them pause in considering if they’d leave their fellow cows to investigate it. 

Researchers set up what amounted to a T-maze for the cattle, where they could either take a left after they exited the chute and go to their herd, or they can take a right and go towards a feed bucket. Researchers added another variable: they would increase the distance the cows had to travel to get to the feed bucket, whereas the social herd stayed where they were.

“And across days that feed supplement got further from their buddies. So, we were saying, okay, is there a distance that will stop them from moving towards this? And then on the last day, we covered that feed supplement with a novel pattern that we thought would spook them a little bit,” said Creamer. “You know, cows are fairly neophobic, so we wanted to see now that there's this kind of scary thing happening with their familiar feed, will they keep going towards that or will then they hang out with their buddies? 

Dr. Horback added “We wanted to see that breaking point. Like how much are they willing to be brave and go through for that supplement treat versus their social needs of being with their fellow cows?

This test allowed the duo to explore the psychology of cows more deeply, providing valuable insights into their grazing behavior and tendencies.

“The cows that went out of their way for the feed were the ones that consistently would go far and wide on range,” said Dr. Horback.

Meanwhile, the one that were more skittish, sought out their fellow cows. They are the ones that stayed near each other and clumped together when grazing on range. 

“They would go right back to the herd as quickly as they could, and then on range, they would just stay together. They have their social group there,” said Dr. Horback.

Unlocking the secret lives of cows: Behavior and sustainability

What this research could mean for ranchers and for sustaining cattle ranching, could be significant. 

By understanding cattle personalities, the hope is that ranchers can strategically place their herd on rangelands that align with each animal's unique traits. For example, some cows may be more willing to navigate hills with richer vegetation, while others may prefer easier, flatter ground. Selecting cattle with more optimal foraging patterns based on observable behaviors during handling and isolation could improve the sustainability of rangeland grazing.

The benefits of having cattle in the herd that travel farther away on rangeland and are more willing to separate from their herd mates is substantial. Animals that are willing to wander, help to maintain soil fertility and structure and allow pastures to rest and regenerate, ensuring healthier plants in the long term. By rotating grazing areas, ranchers can also ensure their cows get a balanced diet from obtaining a wide variety of forage.

“I think this is a good start and more research needs to be done,” said Creamer. “But matching behavior to rangeland manipulations is going to be, I think, the most useful strategy going forward to try to optimize range and sustainability.” 

Dr. Horback has more findings to review from this research, but she’s encouraged by the results thus far what it means for exploring animal cognition. 

“I just love animal minds,” said Dr. Horback. 

The research was supported by the Russell L. Rustici Rangeland and Cattle Research Endowment