Disposition

Producers look for cattle with a great disposition. This means they are calm in nature or temperament and should give the producer no problems when handling. Cattle with a bad temperament do you no good to keep around for  many different reasons including:

Cow showing poor temperament

• Putting you at greater risk of being injured from an attack
• Hard to handle and get corralled in
• They gain less weight in a feedlot from stress
• Less attractive and lose value when being sold

Now granted there is always one cow in the bunch whether you are buying or keeping them yourself that turns up with a bad temperament. Its almost impossible to avoid and most of the time producers end up keeping the cow because they can't afford to get rid of her. According to Ryan Sterry, a University of Wisconsin Extension Agent, poorly tempered cows have the tendency to have poorer fertility.

This may be true in a few cases but from personal experience I would say this is a load of crap. We have had a few poorly tempered cows over the years and we tend to keep them for many years  not because we want to but because they always breed back.They not only breed back but they can raise a calf in all sorts of weather conditions with no assistance and have the best calf every year. Overall, I believe the best thing to do is sell a cow with a bad temperament because she can put you at a high risk of getting injured which just isn't worth it.