Dumb Questions That I Have Always Been Afraid To Ask

[HOSS]

Since I do not consider myself an experienced cattleman I hope I can be forgiven for asking what some may consider dumb questions. OK....here goes.

If a black with white face bull was used on a black cow would the offspring have the white face?

Come to think of it I have never seen any Baldy bulls in this area so I assume that all baldy male cattle are steered out? If so why?

If a red angus bull is used on black cows will the offspring be black only?

Thanks All.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

I am no guru, or expert, but I will take a stab at this.

#1 A percentage of the calves would indeed have a white face. What percent I do not know. It is also possible for those same calves to have other white markings similar to the Hereford (assuming the white faced bull is part Hereford) in the white faced bull.

#2 Not all baldy males are castrated, I have seen one used as a bull in my area. He was actually a very good looking bull, solid build, beefy and well put together.

#3 Not all the calves would be black if any of the black cows carry the red gene.

Katherine

 

[randiliana]

Since I do not consider myself an experienced cattleman I hope I can be forgiven for asking what some may consider dumb questions. OK....here goes.

If a black with white face bull was used on a black cow would the offspring have the white face?

Come to think of it I have never seen any Baldy bulls in this area so I assume that all baldy male cattle are steered out? If so why?

If a red angus bull is used on black cows will the offspring be black only?

Thanks All.

If you use a baldy bull on solid cows, some will have the bald/brockle face, and some will be solid. I don't know what sort of percentages. If you use him on bald face cows most of the calves would be baldies, but there is a possibility of some solid calves. If you are using him on Hereford or possibly Simmental every calf should be a baldie.

There are a lot of baldy bulls in this area. Most of them are Simmental x Angus.

If you use a Red bull on Black cows, you will get 100% black calves from them IF all the cows are homozygous for Black. If the cows are heterozygous for Black then 50% of the calves should be Red.

 

[greenwillowherefords]

One of my hay sources had a Hereford/Angus cross black baldie bull for several years. Big long bull, not bad looking, and sired some good, mostly baldie calves out of Brangus cows. One calf even came out looking like a pure Hereford, red baldie with even a little bit of featherneck I think.

 

[DOC HARRIS]

Since I do not consider myself an experienced cattleman I hope I can be forgiven for asking what some may consider dumb questions. OK....here goes.

If a black with white face bull was used on a black cow would the offspring have the white face?

Come to think of it I have never seen any Baldy bulls in this area so I assume that all baldy male cattle are steered out? If so why?

If a red angus bull is used on black cows will the offspring be black only?

Thanks All.

In genetics, determining what 'color' or 'part color' progeny will be is ethereal, because it depends on whether the "colored' parents are Homozygous or Heterozygous for the specific color or markings you are considering. Also, in determining whether "A" will be such and such or "B" will be such or such depends on Homozygous or Heterozygous parents, and what % their genetic make-up happens to be for the specific trait(s). The more progeny (offspring) we are dealing with, the more accurate the percentages will be. And it depends on whether the male is Homozygous or Heterozygous for the trait(s) you are considering and whether the female is Homozygous or Heterozygous for the same trait(s).

As you can probably determine from the above text, it is impossible to answer your questions with any degree of exactness because there is not enough genetic information available. :help: Example: if I take a brand new deck of playing cards, shuffle them carefully fourteen (14) times, triple-cut them twice, and then shuffle them carefully again, - what are the chances of the top card of the deck being the Nine of Hearts? Answer - 52 to 1. If I take the same deck of cards, and repeat the shuffling and cutting procedures as iterated above 52 different times - NOW what are the chances of the 16th card from the bottom of the deck being the Nine of Hearts? Answer - 52 to 1. Shuffle the Genes of two animals of unknown genetic composition - mate them together - and what are the chances of the progeny being what you think they will be? :?: 52 to 1. - or maybe 378 to 1 - or perhaps 10,974 to 3, or 4. Who knows with UNKNOWN gene pool? I wouldn't bet anything on it! :roll:

DOC HARRIS

 

[ga. prime]

Hoss, your questions weren't dumb by any stretch, and the answer to all of them is maybe. Except the one about why folks don't have a baldie bull in the pasture. The answer to that is that most folks want a purebred bull of known pedigree.

 

[TheBullLady]

The year I used a white faced bull on my cows (Simmental bull, Simmental and Brahman cows) I had less than 20% that had the white face. With the Brahman cows it was even less than that.

 

[kvcanes]

Since I do not consider myself an experienced cattleman I hope I can be forgiven for asking what some may consider dumb questions. OK....here goes.

If a black with white face bull was used on a black cow would the offspring have the white face?

Come to think of it I have never seen any Baldy bulls in this area so I assume that all baldy male cattle are steered out? If so why?

If a red angus bull is used on black cows will the offspring be black only?

Thanks All.

In genetics, determining what 'color' or 'part color' progeny will be is ethereal, because it depends on whether the "colored' parents are Homozygous or Heterozygous for the specific color or markings you are considering. Also, in determining whether "A" will be such and such or "B" will be such or such depends on Homozygous or Heterozygous parents, and what % their genetic make-up happens to be for the specific trait(s). The more progeny (offspring) we are dealing with, the more accurate the percentages will be. And it depends on whether the male is Homozygous or Heterozygous for the trait(s) you are considering and whether the female is Homozygous or Heterozygous for the same trait(s).

As you can probably determine from the above text, it is impossible to answer your questions with any degree of exactness because there is not enough genetic information available. :help: Example: if I take a brand new deck of playing cards, shuffle them carefully fourteen (14) times, triple-cut them twice, and then shuffle them carefully again, - what are the chances of the top card of the deck being the Nine of Hearts? Answer - 52 to 1. If I take the same deck of cards, and repeat the shuffling and cutting procedures as iterated above 52 different times - NOW what are the chances of the 16th card from the bottom of the deck being the Nine of Hearts? Answer - 52 to 1. Shuffle the Genes of two animals of unknown genetic composition - mate them together - and what are the chances of the progeny being what you think they will be? :?: 52 to 1. - or maybe 378 to 1 - or perhaps 10,974 to 3, or 4. Who knows with UNKNOWN gene pool? I wouldn't bet anything on it! :roll:

DOC HARRIS

Doc,

Spoken like a true river boat gambler with a cattle addiction. Remember, the first step to overcoming your problem is to admit you have a problem. Does Leachman's have a 12 step program that can we can get you into?