Abstract
In this study the response to short-term separation and tethering were tested individually 5, 19 and 33 days after birth in five progeny groups of German Angus and German Simmental and genetic parameters were estimated. Heritabilities (+/-SE) for different behavioural traits varied between 0.02 (+/-0.05) and 0.33 (+/-0.24) for German Angus and 0.0 and 0.29 (+/-0.12) for German Simmental. German Simmental and female calves moved significantly more on days 19 and 33 and were scored for fearful than German Angus and male calves. They also showed higher plasma cortisol levels at all tested ages. Behavioural and cortisol responses decreased with every test, indicating that the animals got used to the gentle handling procedure.