A study of 245 steers recorded chute-exit speed at arrival, mid-feeding and the final handling session.
Three handling sessions
An abstract published on 1 October 2026 describes measurements from 245 steers at the Texas Tech University Burnett Center. Researchers timed each steer over 2.37 metres after it left a handling chute. They repeated the measurement at arrival, around day 123 to 126, and around day 242 to 252. Exit-speed groups comprised 47 calm, 152 intermediate and 46 temperamental animals.
Blood measures in selected steers
The team compared blood from 16 of the calmest and 16 of the most temperamental steers. Cortisol, glucose and lactate concentrations were higher in the temperamental group. Exit speed declined during feeding for the intermediate and temperamental groups, while the calm group rose at the interim reading and fell by the last session. The publication is a conference abstract reporting these measured associations.