The relationships between temperament during routine handling tasks, weight gain and facial hair whorl position in frequently handled beef cattle Gabriela Olmos 1 , Simon P. Turner * Scottish Agricultural College, Sir Stephen Watson Building, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Midlothian EH26 0PH, UK Accepted 6 May 2008 Available online 20 June 2008 Abstract A relationship has been described between facial hair whorl position and temperament in infrequently handled beef cattle when both traits were measured on categorical scales. Hair whorl position has also been found to relate to daily weight gain in dairy heifers. Using both a categorical scale and a modified approach in which hair whorl position was recorded as a more continuous variable, the relationship between whorl position and temperament in commercially relevant contexts was examined using frequently handed beef cattle (Bos taurus). The behaviour during restraint in a handling crush and flight speed upon exit from the crush were recorded for 76 steers and heifers (5 European crossbreeds) on 4 occasions. Temperament during restraint was recorded using both a subjective categorical score (crush score; 1–4 scale from calm to violent reaction) and, from videos, by the durations of behaviours pushing/pulling back against the bail of the crush, shaking, neck stretching, head swaying and head rising/lowering. Using still photographs, hair whorl position was recorded both categorically and as a continuous variable with respect to its position between the crown of the head and the nostrils. Weight gain was measured monthly during the 3 months of the study. Cattle with whorls located towards the top of the head on the categorical scale received a crush score indicative of greater restlessness (mean crush scores 2.70, 2.03, 2.16 and 2.11 S.E.D. 0.91, for high, middle, low and absent whorls, respectively, p < 0.05). No significant relationship between hair whorl position on either scale and flight speed was found, indicating that the association between whorl position and temperament seems to be sensitive to the precise context in which temperament is measured and, in addition, we found no link with weight gain. The value of hair whorl position as a potential indicator trait in selection against flighty temperaments in frequently handled cattle therefore seems to be limited. The causative mechanism linking hair patterning and behavioural expression in apparently normally developed www.elsevier.com/locate/applanim Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Applied Animal Behaviour Science 115 (2008) 25–36 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 131 535 3208; fax: +44 131 535 3121. E-mail address: simon.turner@sac.ac.uk (S.P. Turner). 1 Present address: Teagasc, Moorepark Research Facility, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland. 0168-1591/$ – see front matter # 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2008.05.001