A new technique for measuring temperament in cattle.

Abstract

Following an observation that docile animals vacate a weigh scale at a slower rate than others, the temperaments of 6 month and' 18 month bulls and heifers of two genotypes were assessed by electronically recording the time taken for animals to cover a predetermined distance after vacating a confined area. This measurement is known as a Flight Speed. In general, there were no differences between Africander-cross and Africander-cross x Brahman-cross genotypes at either of the two ages, though there were large differences between sire progeny means within each of the genotypes, particularly at the younger age. The sex effect was not significant at weaning, but became more significant (P < 0.01) at 18 months of age with bulls being more temperamental than females. Heritability of Flight Speed varied with age, being high (0.54) at weaning to moderate (0.26) at 18 months when sexes were combined. There were no sex differences in heritability at weaning, but at the later age heritability was 0.44 in males and 0.21 in females.