heritability of eye pigmentation in herefords

[KNERSIE]

Does anybody know of research that has been done on the heritability of eye pigmentation in hereford cattle?

Any idea of how many gene pairs controls this?

It seems to be pretty much a hit and mis thing. I often get a less than fully pigmented calf when both parents are fully pigmented and even when the grandparents are fully pigmented.

What I also have observed is that eyes that had some pigment at birth, but was not fully pigmented often the pigment increases with maturity.

can anyone explain this or share their experience.

 

[dun]

This is strictly a curiousity question! What do you consider pigmentation? A lot of people equate pigmentation to non-white hair around the eye. Pigmentation is actually the coloration of the skin and may or may not be carried into hair coloration.
Like I said, just curious.

dun

 

[KNERSIE]

I consider the skin surrounding the eyes and carrying into the eyelids to be pigmented if the skin itself are brown rather than pinkish. I don't neccesarily need pigmented hair to consider the eye fully pigmented, or the animal to wear "goggles". The pigment that I see as imported is on the part of the area around the eye where there are no hair.

whether I think it serves a purpose in the real world is a completely different matter, but if bull buyers want pigment I would be a fool not to try an fix it in my herd

 

[dun]

The importance of pigmentation was brought home to me when we had a cow that had both eyes fully pimented except for about an 1/8 inch area on the lower eyelid of 1 eye. We didn;t have a pinkeye issue, but I would se the flys lined up in that little narrow light colored strip and none around the rest of the eye. Got me to thinking.

dun

 

[KNERSIE]

Although SA is a hot country we don't have the same fly problems you guys have because the same dip that controls the ticks also control the flys and in summer we need to dip every 3 to 4 weeks. I live in a harsh redwater and anaplasmosis area and therefore tick management is about your most important task.

From my experience eyelashes pointing down and a prominent eyebank plays a much bigger role in preventing pink eye problems than eye pigment. Dusty windy conditions as well as grass seeds that causes the eye to water attracks gnats and flys which will spread pink eye, therefore the more protected and hooded the eye the less chance for irritation and the less chance for runny eyes and the fewer the pink eye problems.

I've spoken to 2 breeders that breed both hereford and angus and funnily enough the one had more eye problems on red angus than his herefords and the other had more on his black angus. But eye set and head shape does get a lot of attention in the hereford breed over here.

I must say I am surprized that no other hereford breeders have responded as eye problems is what possibly had cost the breed more than anything else in the form of loss of marketshare.

 

[Beef11]

eye problems is what possibly had cost the breed more than anything else in the form of loss of marketshare.

Eye, prolapse or the black is beautiful craze for sure. Which one cost them the most i couldn't say for sure. The breed has really done a good job of addressing those issues in recent years.