Consistency of flight speed and its correlation to productivity and to personality in Bos taurus beef cattle

Flight speed (FS) has been used as a measure of temperament and is correlated with weight gain in Bos indicus cattle. However, no work to date has investigated this relationship in Bos taurus cattle and, more importantly, there have been no attempts to understand the individual differences in personality which cause individual differences in FS and average daily gain (ADG). Thus, the objectives of this study were to: (a) evaluate the reliability of the FS test by repeated measurements, (b) determine the correlation of FS to ADG, and (c) examine the correlation of FS and ADG to personality traits measured in a social separation test. FS measurements for 61 Aberdeen Angus crossbred heifers were repeated three times at 4-week intervals (FS1–3), and a fourth time (FS4) immediately following FS3. The relationship between FS and ADG over 8 weeks was quadratic (P < 0.05), with those animals having particularly high FS showing the lowest ADG over the study period. FS increased slightly over time (FS1–3 = 3.20, 3.36, 3.84 m/s, respectively), which may be attributed to either increased fearfulness or animal growth. The monthly measures of FS were significantly correlated (FS1,2: r = 0.50; FS2,3: r = 0.63), which may reflect individual consistency. The two FS measures taken within a day did not differ and were correlated (FS4 = 4.03 m/s; FS3,4: r = 0.84). A 15 min social separation test was conducted once using a subset of 36 animals. Animals having higher FS showed more locomotion (rs = 0.34) and changed between behavioural states more often (rs = 0.35), possibly reflecting an agitated state during the social separation test. The shorter duration of immobility (rs = −0.34) and the lower frequency of vigilance (rs = −0.40), along with the higher locomotion (rs = 0.41) of cattle with higher ADG, may indicate an absence of fear during a social separation test. In conclusion, the results indicate that animals that differed in their FS also exhibited differences in their personality traits, which may be related to differences in their physiological characteristics resulting in differences in ADG.