What Can You Learn From Cowlicks?

Do you have a cowlick?  Cowlicks are spirals in your hair where the hair grows in different directions than the rest of the hair - usually straight up!  They are hard to control.  I have two on the back of my neck. Cowlicks are caused by genetics.  Lots of hair gel or other hair care products can hide a cowlick, but not for long!

There have been lots of opinions about humans, linking temperament to hair color (sorry red-headed folk!), but nothing related with cowlicks.  Until I read THIS ARTICLE about cowlicks in cows.  Interestingly, cowlicks in cows are called 'whorls,' and there is some research on them as whorls relate to temperament.

The study shows that in selecting breeding cattle, it might be a good idea to pay particular attention to the relative position of the whorl on the cow's head.  The brain and hair patterns develop at the same time and they theorize that whorl position is important to how docile or gentle will be.  The study involved observing 1500 cattle being run through a squeeze chute.  Here is a summary of the study:

"The observations were conducted in a commercial feedlot during routine cattle handling for vaccinations and ear tagging. The person observing the animal's reaction in the squeeze chute was positioned so that he could not see the hair whorl on the animal's forehead. Cattle with spiral hair whorls above the eyes were more agitated in the squeeze chute compared to animals with whorls below the eyes. The cattle came from 14 different ranches, so it is unlikely that our findings are due to previous handling experiences. Hair whorl position significantly affected temperament rating during exiting from the squeeze chute. Cattle with spiral hair whorls high on the forehead appear to be more likely to panic during restraint compared to cattle with low spiral hair whorls."

Interesting.  It made me go look closely at our cows' whorls.  Here is Clarabelle's.  Notice the whorl is even with her eyes:

And here is old Rosie.  Her whorl is even with her eyes (and not high on her forehead).

And then here is little Elsie - my favorite.  Her whorl is a little bit lower than her eyes.  That means, according to the theory, that she is very gentle.  She is!  The thing that will make her possibly agitated, however, has nothing to do with the position of her cowlick, but the position of that horse fly you can see on her head.  If that booger bites her, she'll be agitated for sure!

All of our cows are gentle.  We have had bulls that were not.  Some of our bulls have gotten downright scary indeed - so scary that we rushed them to slaughter, but I didn't notice the location of their whorl before "putting them in the freezer."  We'll tuck this bit of knowledge away and see if the theory holds true for additional cows on Our Maker's Acres Family Farm.