djinwa
Well-known member
Probably not many people here using this minor breed, but thought could get some comments generally on how these things work.
Last August, I raised an issue about a problem in the chromosomes (genes) of a bull, which results in about 10% of pregnancies being lost early in the first few weeks.
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=85479
If lose the pregnancy early, the cows get bred again and breeders may not notice, though will have some increased time between calving. So basically a problem of delayed conception. More noticable if doing AI, as opposed to natural service
Last August I discovered a presentation by a veterinarian and breeder in Australia that outlines the problem in British White (BW) cattle.
http://www.britishwhitecattleaustralia. ... ept_08.pdf
I shared this information with the two breed associations for BW, and also emailed it to 8 or 10 bigger breeders. Figured I'd give them some time to implement a strategy to deal with it, as the Australian veterinarian recommends.
6 months later, nobody has replied.
70% of BW in the U.K. have the defect, as genetics from breeds with the defect in Scandinavian countries were infused into U.K. British Whites after World War 2. Most BW in America were brought over here before that, so shouldn't have the problem. My concern is that now people are importing semen/embryos/cattle from the U.K., and contaminating the breed here with the defect. That was the case with the bull in my original thread, whose parents were from the U.K. His chromosome defects were only discovered because he had to be tested for export to Australia, which has testing requirements.
So the longer we wait to implement testing of imports into the U.S., the more mess there will be to clean up.
I'm now thinking that testing will only happen if buyers are aware of this, and demand it of breeders. This breeder has test results posted for his bull - karyotype report.
http://www.britishwhite.com/colonel-jr.htm
He has the normal number of chromosomes - 60. A bull with only 59 chromosomes will give the defect to half his offspring, while a bull with 58 chromosomes will give the defect to all his offspring.
Last August, I raised an issue about a problem in the chromosomes (genes) of a bull, which results in about 10% of pregnancies being lost early in the first few weeks.
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=85479
If lose the pregnancy early, the cows get bred again and breeders may not notice, though will have some increased time between calving. So basically a problem of delayed conception. More noticable if doing AI, as opposed to natural service
Last August I discovered a presentation by a veterinarian and breeder in Australia that outlines the problem in British White (BW) cattle.
http://www.britishwhitecattleaustralia. ... ept_08.pdf
I shared this information with the two breed associations for BW, and also emailed it to 8 or 10 bigger breeders. Figured I'd give them some time to implement a strategy to deal with it, as the Australian veterinarian recommends.
6 months later, nobody has replied.
70% of BW in the U.K. have the defect, as genetics from breeds with the defect in Scandinavian countries were infused into U.K. British Whites after World War 2. Most BW in America were brought over here before that, so shouldn't have the problem. My concern is that now people are importing semen/embryos/cattle from the U.K., and contaminating the breed here with the defect. That was the case with the bull in my original thread, whose parents were from the U.K. His chromosome defects were only discovered because he had to be tested for export to Australia, which has testing requirements.
So the longer we wait to implement testing of imports into the U.S., the more mess there will be to clean up.
I'm now thinking that testing will only happen if buyers are aware of this, and demand it of breeders. This breeder has test results posted for his bull - karyotype report.
http://www.britishwhite.com/colonel-jr.htm
He has the normal number of chromosomes - 60. A bull with only 59 chromosomes will give the defect to half his offspring, while a bull with 58 chromosomes will give the defect to all his offspring.
