Farm animals show individual variation in their behavioural responses to handling and management systems on farms. These behavioural responses are presumed to reflect underlying temperament traits such as fear or aggression. Information about the location of genes that influence temperament traits could be used in selective breeding programmes to improve animal welfare, as selection for desirable behavioural responses would increase the ability of animals to cope with stressors encountered on farms. The aims of this study were to obtain reliable temperament measurements in cattle using behavioural tests, and to use this data to localise the genes (quantitative trait loci) that are involved in such traits.

Behavioural data obtained in temperament tests must be shown to reflect underlying traits by demonstrating intra-animal repeatability, inter-animal variability and validity. The objectives of this experiment were i) to carry out four behaviour tests on a group of heifers, and examine the repeatability, variability and validity of the results obtained; ii) to correlate the behavioural data with genotyping data from a large number of heifers to look for associations between behavioural phenotypes and genetic markers. Associations localise quantitative trait loci (QTLs), or regions of the genome, that are involved in these traits.