Char color(s) ?

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Stocker Steve

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You see a lot of Chars that look very white, and some that are a creamy or light gold color. Is this from cross breeding with reds or just normal variation? Is there a tint preference for showing?
 
There are red factored Charolais, I am not sure if it is normally occurring in full bloods or if it is as a result of the breeding up process to purebred. They are registerable. I don't know anything about what is desirable for the show ring at this time.
 
In the United states, cattle can be considered purebred Charolais as long as 31/32 of their genetics are from Charolais cattle. This means that 1/32 can be from other breeds like Angus or Red Angus. As a result, it is possible for Charolais cattle to have red or black coloring, in addition to the traditional white or cream varieties.

Some Charolais cattle also develop a red coat due to a gene mutation.

In order to be registered with the American International Charolais Association as purebred, cattle must posses 31/32 Charolais genetics and be white, cream, straw, or red in color. This means black cattle are not eligible for the the designation, even if they meet the genetic standards.

Black and red Charolais may be more difficult to distinguish from other breeds of cattle because they lack one of the most distinctive features (the white color). For this reason, you may need to pay even more attention to the body composition and head characteristics than you would with a white Charolais.

This means black cattle are not eligible for the the designation, even if they meet the genetic standards. The Canadian Charolais Association does register the Black Charolais. Here in the US, the AICA still does not recognize the Black's. Under the Composite Beef Cattle Registry, we have been registering the blacks for a little over a year for breeders in the US. as the American Black Charolais Association and the American Equalizer Registry (the Equalizer is a composite of the Black Charolais and Angus)
 
The different colors in the registered Charolais come from breed up, yes. I think the red comes from Hereford or Shorthorn, from the first days of Charolais in the United States. From what I understand it was not legal to import a full blood Charolais and breeders would get half blood bulls and cows from Mexico. Later on came whats now the AICA and the rules mentioned by CBR about registration.

When I register my Charolais I have to indicate the calf color as white, light cream or straw, as well as the color of the calf's nose. If the calf is too red it will have a RF prefix to the registration number to indicate "red factor".

The black Charolais in Georgia and Canada are the results of compound breeding the darkest reds together over time. Last I saw on it the black Charolais bulls all came from just a handful of mating's and ET was used heavily in the process. I wish I could remember where I read about it but cant right now. I think it was on the Three Trees Ranch web site, but don't hold me to it.

The whole idea of making a non black hided breed into a black hided breed is weird to me. It seems like most of them are just Angus composites, and the original breed dies out when the black hide fever hits. I liked the Fleck Simms, and as much as I like a true baldy, what would American beef be today without the white face Hereford? I don't have full french Charolais, so I cant say mine are the purest, but the American Charolais of today is a great animal and owe a lot to breed up.

For me black or red Charolais is not what I want, but they do show why there is a genetic difference between the American Charolais of today and the Full French.

Visited a friends farm on election day. He raises Charolais and has a nice herd of 120 or so black commercials as well. Uses his Charolais bulls on his commercial cows a lot. He had maybe 3-4 baldy cows out there on the one farm, but I kept seeing white face calves everywhere. He told me the Registered Charolais bull that sired those calves throws white face calves everytime, yet the bull himself is actually white with a pink nose.

Cotton1
 
Stocker Steve":38igr0gx said:
Some demand here for BA crossed black nose chars.
Can you tell cream/straw registered chars from red cross chars?

I would think they could be distinguished apart, the red ones that I have seen have been a very light reddish/tan to a red comparable to red breeds. The cream/straw color is more of a yellowish.
 
cotton1":3cr654gt said:
The different colors in the registered Charolais come from breed up, yes. I think the red comes from Hereford or Shorthorn, from the first days of Charolais in the United States. From what I understand it was not legal to import a full blood Charolais and breeders would get half blood bulls and cows from Mexico. Later on came whats now the AICA and the rules mentioned by CBR about registration.

When I register my Charolais I have to indicate the calf color as white, light cream or straw, as well as the color of the calf's nose. If the calf is too red it will have a RF prefix to the registration number to indicate "red factor".

The black Charolais in Georgia and Canada are the results of compound breeding the darkest reds together over time. Last I saw on it the black Charolais bulls all came from just a handful of mating's and ET was used heavily in the process. I wish I could remember where I read about it but cant right now. I think it was on the Three Trees Ranch web site, but don't hold me to it.

The whole idea of making a non black hided breed into a black hided breed is weird to me. It seems like most of them are just Angus composites, and the original breed dies out when the black hide fever hits. I liked the Fleck Simms, and as much as I like a true baldy, what would American beef be today without the white face Hereford? I don't have full french Charolais, so I cant say mine are the purest, but the American Charolais of today is a great animal and owe a lot to breed up.

For me black or red Charolais is not what I want, but they do show why there is a genetic difference between the American Charolais of today and the Full French.

Visited a friends farm on election day. He raises Charolais and has a nice herd of 120 or so black commercials as well. Uses his Charolais bulls on his commercial cows a lot. He had maybe 3-4 baldy cows out there on the one farm, but I kept seeing white face calves everywhere. He told me the Registered Charolais bull that sired those calves throws white face calves everytime, yet the bull himself is actually white with a pink nose.

Cotton1

some years ago I had registered Charolais, occasionally calves would be born with a pinkish/reddish cast and in a couple instances they were marked similar to a Hereford with a distinct white face, legs and underside, they turned white like the other calves within a month or so of birth. I did have a couple that were solid light red that remained that color. I have noticed white faces, as well white stripes down the back and tails of several crossbred Charolais calves.
 
Char have a checkered past we're not allowed in the country due to hoof and mouth. Some were snuck in from Mexico and in the 60's they started showing up to import ban being lifted.
First one I ever saw was in 1970 wore out a set of chains pulling calves for a fellow I did some work for.
If I am not mistaken the Char association papers some bloodlines as full blood and pure bred different like the AHA green papered line.
 
I love what Charolais bulls do on very common poor framed cows like longhorns. The proof is in the pudding, a huge push was made to infuse lots and lots of Charolais bulls into the Mexican cowherd in the 70's and 80's. The typical Mexican prior to that basically looked like a roping steer. The typical Number 1 Mexican now is good framed, not too much extra skin, still enough ear to do well in tough country, good capacity to put on lean muscle and about 70% yellow or some shade of Char cross.
While Laura's Lean Beef owns very few fed cattle to grade, focusing on feeder cows and butcher bulls, basically all the calves they do purchase on videos or out of the country to send to grass and then the feedlot or directly to a yard depending on their weight are Charolais sired. Their head of procurement tells me they feel Charolais is the only Continental breed that can consistently yield as lean as they expect.
 

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