Is This Shorthorn Bull TH Positive?

[Chuckie]

I was looking over the Shorthorn bulls and found this one. He has a TH at the end of his registration number, yet I do not find him on the ASA genetic defect list. I saw others on the list that do not have a "TH" at the end of their number. Both of his parents have "TH" also. It just boils down to the fact I don't know much about Shorthorns. The other thread was interesting.
http://www.onlinebullstud.com/Shorthorn/RB Eagle%20255.html
RB Eagle 255TH
Reg. # 4024655
The ASA Genetic defect list is:
http://shorthorn.org/asa/tabID_3758/tailored.aspx

 

[Chuckie]

After doing a lottttttt of looking, I think the asterisk before the registration# may show they carry the gene. The bull and both of his parents, I listed above is the only one that I could find with the TH as part of his registration#. One of his parents shows an *.

 

[Vicky the vet]

* means it's an appendix pedigree. This indicates there is non pure blood somewhere back in the pedigree. Frankly, I don't know if the appendix pedigrees in Canada are necessarily the same as the US so I won't go further. There is supposed to be a mark on the registration number indicating th but the * is definitely NOT it.

 

[Chuckie]

Thanks Vicky. The ASA site doesn't give a lot of info on this. Is there a way to tell if they are a carrier of the gene by looking at their registration paperwork?

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I'm not familiar with Shorthorn either, but I'm sure unless it is an AI bull, there are lots of cattle running around carrying the th gene.
Right now, the Amer Simmental Assn is addressing the issue - to keep the gene out of our gene pool - since upgrading is getting so popular again - and since Simmental is being used in the club calve business so much.

 

[certherfbeef]

chuckie,

Just my opinion here but I wouldn't use him. If you roll back thru the pedigree on the bottom side there is Deerpark Improver just a few generations back. And LOTS of Deerpark on the topside.
Brings up a great big red flag for me.
If you are wanting semen on a red and white with good numbers pm me. I'll hook ya up with a buddy that has a TH free herd and top knotch cattle.

 

[clifflem]

The bull's name is RB Eagle 255th. Has nothing to do with the TH deal. The * means he is from an appendix registery background. Unless he has been DNA tested, their is no way to know if he is a carrier or not.
Even if Deerpark Improver is in the pedigree, there is no way of knowing if that particular animal is a carrier or not. Some of the Improvers out of clean cows will be clean. He does seem to be the common factor in the pedigrees of the confirmed carriers. If you go to the Shorthorn website and do pedigree searches on the bulls on the carrier list, he is the common ancestor on all of them.

 

[reddog]

The bull RBeagle 255TH is TH free, if you go to showsteers.com and scroll down the right side column you will find a heading TH Free sires click on it and you will find a listing of numerous TH Free bulls in alphabetical order I hope this helps.

 

[Chuckie]

certherbeef,
I was only thumbing through some of the bulls and saw the "TH" on the end of his name. I wasn't planning on using him. Just trying to learn a little bit.
reddog, thanks for the info on the TH free cattle. I will look at them later.
Chuckie

 

[joe]

what is TH, and can you just look at an animal and tell if it may be a carrier? The neighbor gal called, and wants the Mrs to go look at a shorthorn heifer calf that is for sale. None of us know a thing about shorthorns, but the neighbors daughter thinks they are pretty and wants one to show. This is a may heifer that weighs just over 500#. Which seems a little light to me, and the guy said if he had to "fault her" it would be fine boned.

 

[Brandonm2]

No you can not "eyeball" TH carriers. They should appear to be prefectly fine, healthy cattle. The homozygous TH cattle (two TH genes) die. You can contact the Shorthorn association and ask them about what they know about the sire, grandsire, dam, and maternal grandsire's TH status; but mandatory TH testing for donor dams and AI stud bulls will not be implemented until next year so the information available to them is pretty limited. Ask the seller if they have tested the calf or their herd yet or if they have had any TH deaths. Hopefully he is an honest and progressive breeder; though the Shorthorn association's response as a whole has been rather unimpressive in this whole TH issue to date. Of course even if the heifer IS a TH carrier as long as she is bred to ONLY certified TH free bulls you should not have a problem.