Oddity

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

We have a purebred simmental calf that developed lighter spots on his one back leg. As he has grown, the hair has grown even faster than the rest of the hair. You can not pull it out (it is firmly attached), and even though it looks coarse and wirey, it is not. It is soft like typical baby hair. I have never seen anything like it!

This was him about a month ago

Anyone ever see anything like this? We are hoping he is our steer prospect for next year for our carcass contest. He is a nice calf, just born later than the rest. He is a Cowboy Cut x Revival first calf heifer.

 

[CG1]

Oh yes all our livestock get this every summer It's the shedding of their winter fur. He will probably get this every year when it heats up. Some of mine get it really bad.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

Oh yes all our livestock get this every summer It's the shedding of their winter fur. He will probably get this every year when it heats up. Some of mine get it really bad.

Um, no. He is not shedding, he is GROWING long tuffs of hair, in small circular areas on ONE LEG. He is just about 6 weeks old, born in the summer. He has no winter hair. But great guess.

 

[Boot Jack Bulls]

Moles? (Not the kind that live in the ground)

 

[Son of Butch]

Oh yes all our livestock get this every summer
It's the shedding of their winter fur.

How does a calf born in late spring have winter fur?

 

[DLD]

Just on the one leg? That's a new one on me. It looks and sounds almost like the kind of hair you get with some of those spray on hair growing formulas. We've tried some and when the hair first starts growing on some calves it comes in kind of patchy (it does fill in eventually), and it's always fine and soft - just a little different kind of hair. I know you wouldn't be posting it as a mystery if you were using that, though. Just the only thing close to how that looks that I can think of. I'd be tempted to shear it off and see if it comes back like that, otherwise I don't know what you'd do with it

 

[Lucky]

What kind of dog is that in the background? He looks fiesty.

 

[CG1]

Oh yes all our livestock get this every summer
It's the shedding of their winter fur.

How does a calf born in late spring have winter fur?

Maybe climate I don't know. Our cows and calves all get this each year. One has it on the face and is only 3 months old. Our springs are chilly.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

What kind of dog is that in the background? He looks fiesty.

A very ugly West highland terrier. But he owns my daughter's heart, so he stays. He is scared to death of loud noises, the wind (it bumbs the attic hatch and that scares him), and whines when she is gone.

Our summer is 90 plus, no growing hair in this weather. I might take DLD up on the suggestion of shave it off if I get the chance. Just to see if it grows back. It might be a hair cell thing, since the circles that grow the hair are also a different color of hair. I have been breeding simmental cattle for 12 years now, and never seen anything like this.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

Moles? (Not the kind that live in the ground)

Hmmm, shaving it would show a growth underneath. Just for curiosity sake, I might do that! AFTER we get back from nationals....

 

[Boot Jack Bulls]

Moles? (Not the kind that live in the ground)

Hmmm, shaving it would show a growth underneath. Just for curiosity sake, I might do that! AFTER we get back from nationals....

Be sure to report back to us! I am truly curious what is the cause. Also, best of luck to your crew at Jr Nats!!!!

 

[alisonb]

It might be a hair cell thing, since the circles that grow the hair are also a different color of hair. I have been breeding simmental cattle for 12 years now, and never seen anything like this.

Never seen anything like it as well. Could be an absence of melanin/pigmentation in those areas perhaps. Please let us know.

 

[DLD]

It might be a hair cell thing, since the circles that grow the hair are also a different color of hair. I have been breeding simmental cattle for 12 years now, and never seen anything like this.

Never seen anything like it as well. Could be an absence of melanin/pigmentation in those areas perhaps. Please let us know.

You could be onto something there. Though it's usually not that extreme, sometimes the hair in white spots will be longer and finer - makes it a pain to blend together when you're clipping show cattle that have that.

 

[hurleyjd]

Maybe you have a little Scottish highland dna mixed in from way back.

 

[ga.prime]

Birthmarks my guess, like alison said.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

So, we haltered the babies today. We took our odd calf and took pictures before and after I shaved his leg. I accidentally used blocking blades (used at the show last week, and I forgot to change them out), so I cut myself and the calf. Opps..
Before clipping

After clipping

The skin underneath is black where the extra hair growth is. So there is a difference in skin color. Still odd, I'm planning on watching to see if it grows back like before.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

I thought I would update this thread with new pictures. The steer is about 11 months old and 1000 pounds now. He still has ther strange leg hair....


It is very fine hair.

 

[Muddy]

I thought I would update this thread with new pictures. The steer is about 11 months old and 1000 pounds now. He still has ther strange leg hair....


It is very fine hair.

That's odd

 

[DLD]

Definitely an oddity. Guess I'm in on the birthmark idea, I know it does sometimes affect hair.

We kept a few daughters of a particular Angus bull we had, and they have some strange swirls. The most pronounced had a circle right in the middle of her back probably 8-9" in diameter - it looked like the skin was raised there, but when you felt of it it was just much stiffer hair that stood straight up. There was another, smaller, less pronounced area farther back - like on her loin. The others have swirls in the same spots but not nearly as noticeable (not sure you'd see it if you weren't looking for it). I should have pics but I can't find any. She was just coming 4, but she died back in February, I saw her out grazing one evening, looked perfectly fine, went out to feed the next morning and she was dead. Hadn't been dead long, wasn't stretched out or bloated - looked like she was sitting up and just fell over. Had cud in her mouth. Didn't have her posted but vets I described it to said probably heart failure - probably from a hereditary weakness. I had a partner on her sire and I used him one season and my partner used him one season and found him dead for no apparent reason, too.

Didn't mean to hijack your thread Fire Sweep, just sharing another oddity...