Effects of acute stressors on adrenocortical and nociceptive responses were examined in 24 dairy cows kept in tie-stalls, using 15-min of isolation in novel surroundings (ISOL), fixation by head in home stall (FIX), and provision of novel neighbours/stall (NEIGH) as acute stressors as well as a control treatment (CON). Each cow was exposed to one treatment daily. Within treatments capable of inducing significant adrenocortical responses, no relations between the adrenocortical reactivity and the nociceptive changes were found. The results suggest that adrenocortical and nociceptive responses of individual dairy cows toward acute stress are independent components of the responses toward challenging events.