Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2017
The open-field test can be used to measure temperament in dairy cows (Kilgour, 1975). Temperament or emotional reactivity reflects an animal’s ability to cope with an environmental change or challenge (Lawerence et al, 1991; Manteca & Deag, 1993), and consequently assessment of this can be effective in the development of novel production systems. The aim of this experiment was to identify temperament differences between two breeds of dairy cattle, Dutch Holsteins (DH) and Norwegian Dairy Cattle (NC), in two production systems.