I have a cow that I have kept 5 heifers from since 1998. The first three heifers turned out great and so did the fifth, but the 4th heifer was a dwarf. The same bull was used for all five calves.The dwarf heifer got bred and thew a (I know the spelling is gonna be wrong) hermorphadite calf.All the other heifers thow great calves and have no problems. What went wrong with this one? Never ran into this problem with any of the cows over here before.
dwarf heifer
- Thread starter FL Cowboy
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ALACOWMAN
Well-known member
sounds like the dwarf gene has been hiding out in the parents and showed up on the fourth calf this happens . how come you kept the heifer and the bull what kind are they?
The bull was a Adams ranch braford I kept the heifer not realizing at first she was a dwarf we had the cow she was out of and 3 generations back with no dwarfs.The bull we had for about 8 years and the ranch used those bulls for about 20 years.The cow she was out of was a brangus X longhorn i think.Black with blue frost down here side.So I figured I see if she would calf after I realized she was bred and she thew a himorphidite calf first for both out here
ALACOWMAN
Well-known member
Id be filling adams ranch in about this little tidbit im sure they would be interested as they have a good reputation
I dont think its Adams Ranch problem.They have a great rep. and this herd when I took over was far from par.More likely our problem there theirs.They used Brangus bulls awhile ago too.Maybe from there?This was a older cow I kept these heifers from.
SEC
Well-known member
The dwarf gene comes from 2 sides!
ALACOWMAN
Well-known member
while we are on this subject and that its the consensus of most that the dwarf gene is in both parents. what about humans? i know of too dwarf people that married normal size humans that had dwarf kids. and it was in my thinking that they should have known it would happen. what do yall think and can you help this dumb cowboy out :cboy:
I tried to look some info up on this. It seems there are different kinds of dwarfism. I saw one place that mentioned one type as a dominant gene, and it also said something about an autosomal mutation. Maybe some types are recessive.
When I said I thought it was more are problem than theres it was because I have seen them big yearlings be left on the tit to long (guilty ) end up breeding some cows by the time you get them penned and hauled.The bulls at the time wernt being pulled every 120 days or so.So there was calves all ages year round,and unless I can fill a trailor they dont like to haul a load
ALACOWMAN
Well-known member
sounds like a sht storm of mismanagement too me
it is very possible that all animals involved are dwarf carriers.
obviously, the bull is a dwarf carrier. if all 5 cows are carriers, that would mean you should expect 1.25 dwarf calves every year. rounded to the nearest whole calf you have 1 calf expected every year with 2 dwarves expected every 4th year.
sounds like it's time to start culling... beginning with the bull and the cow that produced a dwarf.
obviously, the bull is a dwarf carrier. if all 5 cows are carriers, that would mean you should expect 1.25 dwarf calves every year. rounded to the nearest whole calf you have 1 calf expected every year with 2 dwarves expected every 4th year.
sounds like it's time to start culling... beginning with the bull and the cow that produced a dwarf.
Jeanne - Simme Valley
Well-known member
But if yearlings are left on cows, the sire may be a total unknown :shock: Could be multiple choices for a sire.
ALACOWMAN
Well-known member
well the two im talking about one is a male dwarf and the other a female both married too normal size spouses yet both have dwarf kids it just makes me wonder is this gene carried in most every human. going have too stop wondering i guess and break out the books ;-)Aero":d19h2gcq said:
ALACOWMAN
Well-known member
yep this is the information that can narrow down the problemJeanne - Simme Valley":27d08h3x said:
When I started here the second thing I did was start culling. Out fo all cows involved that I know of 1 hiefer is left.Shes going next time I haul,shame to heck of a good one.Out of original herd that was here theres only maybe 20 head left.And all of them are F1 from another pasture.Plus according to my paperwork there was only three big yearling left at that time and them nor the cows they are out of are left. So maybe 1 to go and problem solved(hopefully)
