The effect of facial hair whorl position and raising environment on the temperament of the Chinese Yellow cattle in Shinjang Uyghur Aptonom Rayoni, China

Abstract

Objective: Temperament in livestock is one of the significant concerns in animal production. The objective of this chapter is to determine if there is a relationship between hair whorl position and temperament in Chinese Yellow cattle using a questionnaire. In addition, the effect of the raising environment is investigated.
Materials and Methods: A total of 122 Chinese Yellow cattle were surveyed in 3 village areas and 4 grassland areas in a northern area of China. For each cattle, an investigator asked the care-person about each item of a temperament questionnaire and determined the facial hair whorl position of each cattle. Hair whorl position was categorized as high, middle, or low in relation to the eyes.
Results: The overall distribution was: 20.5% high, 58.2% middle, 13.1% low, 6.6% double, and 1.6% no hair whorl. There was no significant difference between the grassland and village areas cattle in the distribution of whorl position. The scores for grassland areas were significatly higher than those of village areas in terms of “Retentive memory”, “Sensitivity”, and “Timidity”, and lower in “Docility” and “Fortitude”. The scores for the high position tended to be higher than those for the middle plus low positons in terms of “Adaptability” and “Obedience”. On the other hand, there was a tendency for score for the high position to be lower than the other positions in “Excitability”. Significant interaction between area and whorl position was observed in “Friendliness to cattle”.
Conclusion: These findings suggest that hair whorl location may be effective in predicting temperament in cattle, but temperament can be influenced by environment and/or handlings.

Full text

hp://bdvets.org/javar/  477
Aierqing et al./ J. Adv. Vet. Anim. Res., 7(3): 477–481, September 2020
JOURNALOFADVANCEDVETERINARYANDANIMALRESEARCH
ISSN2311-7710(Electronic)
hp://doi.org/10.5455/javar.2020.g444September 2020
A periodical of the Network for the Veterinarians of Bangladesh (BDvetNET) VOL7,NO.3,PAGES477–481
SHORTCOMMUNICATION
The eect of facial hair whorl posion and raising environment on the temperament
of the Chinese Yellow cale in Shinjang Uyghur Aptonom Rayoni, China
SarengaowaAierqing,AkikoNakagawa,YoshimitsuOuchi,TakashiBungo
LaboratoryofAnimalBehaviorandPhysiology,GraduateSchoolofIntegratedSciencesforLife,HiroshimaUniversity,Hiroshima,Japan
Correspondence TakashiBungo bungo@hiroshima-u.ac.jp  LaboratoryofAnimal BehaviorandPhysiology,GraduateSchoolof
IntegratedSciencesforLife,HiroshimaUniversity,Hiroshima,Japan.
How to cite:AierqingS,NakagawaA,OuchiY,BungoT.Theeectoffacialhairwhorlposionandraisingenvironmentonthetemperament
oftheChineseYellowcaleinShinjangUyghurAptonomRayoni,China.JAdvVetAnimRes2020;7(3):477–481.
ABSTRACT
Objecve:Theobjecveofthisstudyistodeterminewhetherthereisarelaonshipbetweenhair
whorlposionandtemperamentinChineseYellowcaleusingaquesonnaire.Also,theeectof
theraisingenvironmentisinvesgated.
Materials and methods: A totalof 122 Chinese Yellow cale weresur veyedin 3 village areas
andfourgrasslandareasinthenorthernareaofChina.Foreachcale,aninvesgatoraskedthe
care-person about each itemof a temperament quesonnaire and determined the facial hair
whorlposionofeachcale.Thelocaonof hairwhorlwascategorizedaslow,middle,orhigh
inrelaontotheeyes.
Results: The overalldistribuon was 20.5% high, 58.2% middle, 13.1% low, 6.6% double, and
1.6%no hairwhorl.There wasno signicantdierencebetweenthe grasslandand villagearea
caleinthedistribuonofwhorlposion.Thescoresofgrasslandareasweresignicantlyhigher
than those of village areas in terms of “Retenve memory”, “Sensivity,” and “Timidity” and
lowerin“Docility” and “Fortude.”The scores for the high posion tended to be higher than
thoseforthemiddlepluslowposionsintermsof“Adaptability”and“Obedience.”Ontheother
hand,therewas a tendency for a scoreforthe high posion to be lower than the otherposi-
onsin“Excitability.”Asignicantinteraconbetweenareaandwhorlposionwasobservedin
“Friendlinesstocale.”
Conclusion:Thesendingssuggestthathairwhorllocaonmaybeusefulinpredicngthetem-
peramentincale,buttemperamentcanbeinuencedbyenvironmentand/orhandlings.
ARTICLE HISTORY
ReceivedMay25,2020
RevisedJune19,2020
AcceptedJuly11,2020
PublishedAugust22,2020
KEYWORDS
Temperament;quesonnaire;
hairwhorl,environment;
ChineseYellowcale.
Introducon
Temperament is an essential factor in selecting livestock.
There must be an interaction between farm animals and
their care-person; the animal–human relationship is par-
ticularly important in animal production. As well as han-
dling by the care-person, the temperament of the animals
-
ies about the effect of interaction on the safety and quality
of animal handling [1–3]. In the case of cattle, they are easily
fearful of or irritated by the care-person, and consequently
are hard to control during routine work [4]. It is necessary
to exploit easy ways to select animals for submissiveness
because it is challenging to deal with animals that have an
aggressive or excitable temperament. Horse trainers have
noted the position of round hair whorls (trichoglyphs) on
the forehead of horses, and researchers have reported that
hair whorl position can be used to foretell the behavior
of a horse during training [5,6]. Similar to horses, some
investigations suggest the relationship between temper-
ament and position of facial hair whorl in cattle [7–13].
Environmental factors also affect how cattle act during
treatment. Cattle with a timid temperament may be more
fearful and uncontrollable by a care-person when encoun-
tering a novel situation. On the contrary, animals with an
unagitated temperament may grow accustomed to a new
environment and handling [14]. Therefore, it is essential
  
environmental factors.
Chinese Yellow cattle is a major cattle breed and can be

ThisisanOpenAccessarcle
distributedunderthetermsofthe
CreaveCommonsAribuon4.0
Licence(hp://creavecommons.org/
licenses/by/4.0)

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North China types) [15,16]. They contribute to not only
beef production but also the improvement of meat quality
in China [17]. However, little is known about the temper-
ament of Chinese Yellow cattle. The objective of the pres-
ent study is to determine whether there is a relationship
between temperament and position of facial hair whorl
in cattle using a questionnaire. Hair whorl position could
then possibly be used to foretell future temperament traits
in cattle. Besides, the effect of the raising environment is
investigated.
Materials and Methods
The survey was conducted at 7 locations (3 village areas
-
gen Jasaqu Siyan, Shinjang Uyghur Aptonom Rayoni, China
(Fig. 1; Table 1).
A total of 122 Chinese Yellow cattle were used in this
survey: 9 heifers, 20 primiparae, and 93 multiparae (Table
1). Cattle in the village areas were reared in nearby pas-
tures in the daytime and kept in their barn at night. In the
grassland areas, they were raised fulltime in the prairie
away from the village areas. It was assumed that there
were few genetic differences between the cattle at the two
locations because the owners of the cattle at both locations
buy and sell their cattle from and to each other.
The questionnaire was designed to measure the person-
ality of the cattle in general (Table 2). The questionnaire

et al. [18]. For each cattle, the investigator conducting the
survey asked the care-person about each item of the ques-
tionnaire and evaluated the responses to approaching or
  

The hair whorl position of each animal was recorded by
the investigator, who took facial photographs at approxi-
mately 0.5 m above the face. The investigator and another
person then collated the records with the photographs
        

  
studies [7,19]. In brief, the center of the whorl was used
as the reference point. An individual with a whorl above

         -
   
Ten cattle had double whorls (n = 2) or no whorl (n = 8),
so they were excluded from the present study (Table 3).
Figure 1.
Shinjang Uyghur Aptonom Rayoni).

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Consequently, the surveyed cattle consisted of 7 heifers, 19
primiparae, and 86 multiparae.
-
able package, StatView (Version 5, SAS Institute, Cary,

differences in the distribution of the hair whorl patterns.
Logarithmic and square root transformations were applied
for skewed distributions of parameters for the question-
-
ance (ANOVA) with respect to the effects of whorl position
      
was detected, a post-hoc test was conducted using the
Steel–Dwass test. A high whorl position was compared
with the middle + low position, according to the suggestion
by Grandin et al. [7]p <
0.05 and p < 0.1 for a trend.
Results and Discussion
The distribution of hair whorl patterns in the surveyed
Chinese Yellow cattle is shown in Table 3. The overall
distribution was as follows: 20.5% high, 58.2% middle,
13.1% low, 6.6% double, and 1.6% no hair whorl. There
   
village area cattle in the distribution of whorl position
2 = 2.11, n.s.). A report on Holstein cattle with a single
whorl showed 10.0% high, 39.0% middle, and 51.0%
low hair whorl [9], and a report on Angus cattle with a
whorl showed 8.2% high, 36.7% middle, and 25.8% low
[12]. There was a similar report that showed 26% of the
cattle had low hair whorls, 54% had middle whorls, and
18% had high whorls [19]     
percentage of cattle with a low hair whorl, compared with
the results in other reports (25.8%–51.0%) [7–13]. Also,
the percentage of cattle with a high hair whorl was rel-
atively higher than that in other reports (8.2%–13.2%)
[8–13]. Notable variations in the positioning of the hair
whorls on the head of Chinese Yellow cattle were identi-

distribution.
Table 4 shows the relationship between hair whorl
position and temperament in the Chinese Yellow cattle.
The results of two-way ANOVA showed that there were
       
(“Independence,” “Friendliness to people”, “Fearfulness,”
and “Inconsistent emotionality”) (p > 0.1). There were sig-
-
ing to raising the environment. Namely, the scores of the

village areas in terms of “Retentive memory”, “Sensitivity,”
and “Timidity” (p < 0.05, p < 0.05, p < 0.001, respectively)
and lower in “Docility” and “Fortitude” (p < 0.05, p < 0.01,
respectively). Additionally, the score for “Nervousness”
tended to be lower for the village areas than for the
grassland areas (p < 0.1). Generally, the temperament in
animals is affected by the rearing environment and also
    [20], social conditions can
  
and Kaphengst [21]

      
that cattle in the grassland areas seemed to be more ner-
vous and cautious than those in the village areas (Table 4).
Table 1. DistribuonofcalvingnumberinthesurveyedChinese
Yellowcale.
Locaon Calving number
01≥2
Grassland 3 10 53
Village 6 10 40
Total 9 20 93
Table 2. Quesonnaireitems.
Item 1 ⇔5
Q1 Nervousness calm ⇔nervous
Q2 Independence never ⇔always
Q3 Adaptability poor ⇔excellent
Q4 Excitability never ⇔always
Q5 Friendliness(topeople) unfriendly ⇔friendly
Q6 Curiosity rarely ⇔frequently
Q7 Retenvememory poor ⇔excellent
Q8 Fearfulness never ⇔always
Q9 Docility never ⇔always
Q10 Inconsistentemoonality consistent ⇔inconsistent
Q11 Obedience poor ⇔excellent
Q12 Sensivity(vigilance) never ⇔always
Q13 Fortude poor ⇔excellent
Q14 Friendliness(tocale) unfriendly ⇔friendly
Q15 Timidity never ⇔always
Table 3. DistribuonofhairwhorlpaernsinthesurveyedChinese
Yellowcale.
Locaon Hairwhorlposion
High Middle Low (double) (none)
Grassland 12 37 11 1W5Y
Village 13 34 5 1X3Z
Total 25 71 16 2 8
W=aprimipara;X=aheifer;Y=vemulparae;Z=aheiferandtwo
mulparae.

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It is reasonable to consider that cattle in a village may grow
accustomed to various stimulations and become insensi-
ble because there are many stressors (bustle) in the rear-
ing environment of a village.
In terms of the effect of whorl positions, the scores for
high position tended to be higher than those for the mid-
dle plus low positions in “Adaptability” and “Obedience”
(p < 0.1). On the other hand, there was a tendency for the
score of high position to be lower than other positions
in “Excitability” (p < 0.1). In terms of the relationship
      
interaction between area and whorl position was observed
in “Friendliness to cattle” (p
effect was also detected (p < 0.001). Besides, the score for
the high position for cattle in the village areas was sig-
 
a tendency in interaction (area × whorl position) was
detected (p < 0.1).
The facial whorl position of cattle is associated with
temperament and behavior [7,8,19] and maybe of value
in selective breeding for a calm temperament [22]. The
present results indicated that cattle with facial hair whorls
located above the eyes tended to be more adaptable and
obedient, and less excitable in the questionnaire scales
(Table 4). There was a similar report that Holstein bulls
with high-placed whorls were more behaviorally restless
in the crush as measured on an ordinal rating scale [9,23].
Therefore, hair whorl location could be used to predict the
temperament during routine management in frequently
handled cattle.
Temperament prediction using whorl positions in
cattle, however, was affected by the effect of the environ-
ment (Table 4). Although a post-hoc analysis did not indi-
        
“Curiosity,” it is likely that the cattle with middle and low
hair whorls were more curious than the ones with high
hair whorls in the grassland areas. It seemed that the envi-
ronment of the grassland areas with various stimulations
       
because, as mentioned earlier, cattle with facial hair whorls
located above the eyes seemed to be more excitable. On
the other hand, cattle with high facial hair whorls were
friendly with other cattle. Although unclear, these results
indicate that temperaments are easily affected by the envi-
ronment and handling [24,25].
Conclusion
The current study suggests that hair whorl location may be
useful in predicting the temperament in cattle, but temper-

Acknowledgment
This work was partially supported by a Grant-in-Aid
        
Promotion of Science (No. 17K08064).
Table 4. RelaonshipbetweenhairwhorlposionandtemperamentinChineseYellowcale.
Item Grassland Village p-value
High Md/Lw High Md/Lw Site Whorl Interacon
Nervousness 2.7±0.43 2.8±0.18 2.1±0.33 2.3±0.20 0.063 0.450 0.989
Independence 2.3±0.35 2.3±0.17 2.2±0.32 2.4±0.22 0.863 0.660 0.731
Adaptability 3.8±0.22 3.7±0.12 4.2±0.12 3.7±0.16 0.326 0.099 0.214
Excitability 2.4±0.34 2.8±0.16 2.2±0.32 2.5±0.16 0.302 0.089 0.932
Friendlinesstopeople 3.8±0.34 3.6±0.17 3.8±0.32 3.8±0.19 0.603 0.572 0.784
Curiosity 2.3±0.31 3.1±0.16 2.6±0.21 2.6±0.14 0.932 0.125 0.091
Retenvememory 4.1±0.31 3.8±0.12 3.5±0.18 3.4±0.14 0.037 0.418 0.784
Fearfulness 2.4±0.38 2.9±0.18 2.8±0.32 2.6±0.16 0.694 0.535 0.197
Docility 3.3±0.36 3.5±0.16 4.3±0.17 3.7±0.18 0.034 0.441 0.119
Inc.emoonality 2.4±0.36 2.6±0.17 2.1±0.35 2.5±0.18 0.352 0.168 0.536
Obedience 3.9±0.36 3.3±0.18 4.1±0.24 3.6±0.20 0.355 0.076 0.954
Sensivity(vigilance) 3.3±0.28 3.4±0.15 2.8±0.32 2.8±0.19 0.027 0.893 0.946
Fortude 2.5±0.36 2.5±0.17 3.4±0.27 3.3±0.20 0.002 0.637 0.810
Friendlinesstocale 2.8±0.45a 3.3±0.22a 4.7±0.13b 3.6±0.21a <0.001 0.558 0.021
Timidity 3.3±0.38 3.0±0.17 2.2±0.32 2.3±0.16 <0.001 0.924 0.429
Md=Middle;Lw=low.
Valuesaremeans±SEM.

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Aierqing et al./ J. Adv. Vet. Anim. Res., 7(3): 477–481, September 2020
Conict of interest

Authors’ contribuons
-

      
partial data. Yoshimitsu Ouchi performed the statistical
analysis. Takashi Bungo designed the study, interpreted
the data, and reviewed and improved the manuscript.
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