Color lightening

[riquezada]

I have some mixed breed CharX cows that gave brown and grey calves with skunk tails. They turn pretty much pure white about weaning time. I use a purebred Charolais bull. I know there's a diluter gene in the mix. Anyone else experiencing this ? Top and bottom pics belong together.

 

[Caustic Burno]

I have a 1/2 Herf 1/4 Char 1/4 Brahman and she carries it one out of every four to five calves will be a smoke baldie.
Char SH LH and the African horn gene don't always play by the rules.
Diluted in Char throws some interesting colors LH and SH hard to knock the chrome off them.

 

[riquezada]

The diluting is okay. I'm just surprised how darkening colors at birth and then how white they get as they age.

 

[Lucky_P]

'Finching' - the 'skunk-tail' or white lineback type markings is not uncommon in Charolais-cross cattle - you may or may not be able to see those markings in purebreds, due to the color inhibitor gene... but when you start crossing them onto red or black cattle, it'll sometimes show up.

 

[Muddy]

The skunktail chrome came from either Mexican cattle the Charolais upgraded from in Mexico or Pinzgaugers in Europe. There are few Charolais that carried white face and spotting genes. Skunktail chrome is usually an undesirable trait for the guys in crossbreeding program.