Genetic and Phenotypic Parameters for Temperament in Weaned Lambs

This paper reports the results from preliminary analyses of two temperament traits, flight speed and agitation, of weaned lambs from the Information Nucleus (IN) flock. Flight speed and agitation were recorded two to six weeks post weaning. The heritability (± s.e.) of flight speed was 0.07 ± 0.02 and agitation was 0.16 ± 0.03. The two traits were not phenotypically correlated (0.04 ± 0.01) and there was a low positive genetic correlation (0.21 ± 0.15) suggesting that flight speed and agitation are likely to be measuring different components of temperament. Of the 14 potential lamb survival indicator traits recorded at birth, time taken for the lamb to follow the ewe had low positive genetic correlations with agitation. There were no phenotypic correlations between the temperament traits and lamb measurements taken at birth. It is unlikely that selection for flight speed or agitation will markedly impact early lamb behaviour traits, and it is also unlikely that there is any genetic link between temperament traits and lamb survival, although this needs to be confirmed with estimates of the maternal relationships between these traits.