bscattle
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Can some explain polled vs non poll cattle. Are some cattle genetically bred to have horns?
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Please explain
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TexasJerseyMilker
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It would be pretty hard on a cow to give birth to a calf with horns 
GoWyo
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Polled is the dominant gene. Horned gene is recessive. Breed a polled bovine to horned and offspring will be polled, but have a 50% chance of carrying the horned gene. All calves are born without horns and if they are homozygous for the horned gene will start growing them after birth.
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bscattle
Well-known member
True.It would be pretty hard on a cow to give birth to a calf with horns
I guess my question should be ….. wait let me go edit my original post…I know how to ask my question.
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bscattle
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So there are breeds that do not have horns at all? Like Angus?
GoWyo
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Yes. Angus and Red Angus. Also Polled Hereford. Might be more, but those are the breeds I can think of off hand. Some animals within breeds are homozygous polled, but will have Angus in their pedigree on both sides.
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bscattle
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So if you breed angus to a Brahman the your calves would likely be polled?
billyB
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The polled / horned gene is viewed as a simple dominant / recessive inheritance. Each parent animal contributes one copy (allele) of the gene to the calf.
The two alleles are: P = Poll and H = Horn.
Every animal carries 2 copies of the gene. Accordingly, there are 3 possibilities: PP, PH, and HH. Polled is dominant to horned. That means that whenever a polled gene is present, the animal does not have horns.
PP – Polled – this is called Homzygous Polled as the animal carries two dominate polled genes.
PH – Polled – this is called Heterozygous Polled. Scurs are possible*. The animal may pass a polled gene or horned gene to any progeny.
HH – Horned – the animal will be horned and will pass a horned gene to any progeny.
*Scurs are small, loose horns or flat bone growth, which are only expressed in heterozygous polled animals. Scurs are controlled by a different set of genes and can occur on polled bulls. Expect a higher incidence in males than females.
Homozygous Poll
Homozygous polled animals will always give you polled progeny regardless of what it is crossed with.
When a homozygous polled (PP) animal is crossed with a 100% horned (HH) animal, every calf will be polled, or scurred. The resulting calf will be heterozygous polled (PH).
When a homozygous polled (PP) animal is crossed with a heterozygous polled (PH) animal, 50% of the progeny will be homozygous polled (PP), and 50% will be heterozygous polled (PH).
Heterozygous Poll
Heterozygous polled animals will give you a combination of polled, scurred, and horned progeny depending on what they are crossed with.
When a heterozygous polled (PH) animal is crossed with an animal which is 100% horned (HH), 50% of the progeny will be polled (PH) or scurred. 50% of the progeny will be horned (HH) as well.
When crossed with a heterozygous polled (PH) animal, 25% of the progeny are homozygous polled (PP), 50% are heterozygous polled (PH), and 25% are horned (HH).
The two alleles are: P = Poll and H = Horn.
Every animal carries 2 copies of the gene. Accordingly, there are 3 possibilities: PP, PH, and HH. Polled is dominant to horned. That means that whenever a polled gene is present, the animal does not have horns.
PP – Polled – this is called Homzygous Polled as the animal carries two dominate polled genes.
PH – Polled – this is called Heterozygous Polled. Scurs are possible*. The animal may pass a polled gene or horned gene to any progeny.
HH – Horned – the animal will be horned and will pass a horned gene to any progeny.
*Scurs are small, loose horns or flat bone growth, which are only expressed in heterozygous polled animals. Scurs are controlled by a different set of genes and can occur on polled bulls. Expect a higher incidence in males than females.
Homozygous Poll
Homozygous polled animals will always give you polled progeny regardless of what it is crossed with.
When a homozygous polled (PP) animal is crossed with a 100% horned (HH) animal, every calf will be polled, or scurred. The resulting calf will be heterozygous polled (PH).
When a homozygous polled (PP) animal is crossed with a heterozygous polled (PH) animal, 50% of the progeny will be homozygous polled (PP), and 50% will be heterozygous polled (PH).
Heterozygous Poll
Heterozygous polled animals will give you a combination of polled, scurred, and horned progeny depending on what they are crossed with.
When a heterozygous polled (PH) animal is crossed with an animal which is 100% horned (HH), 50% of the progeny will be polled (PH) or scurred. 50% of the progeny will be horned (HH) as well.
When crossed with a heterozygous polled (PH) animal, 25% of the progeny are homozygous polled (PP), 50% are heterozygous polled (PH), and 25% are horned (HH).
Ebenezer
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Some of the gulf coast folks can comment in detail but the Brahman cattle can have another horn gene.
billyB
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This information is based on my knowledge of Wagyu crossed with other breeds.
yes
Ky hills
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Like has already been said sone breeds are naturally polled. Angus are polled. Herefords were originally horned, but a polled strain has been bred from a supposed polled mutation. So now there are both horned and polled Herefords.
Most continental breeds like Charolais, Simmental, Limousin, Gelbvieh, etc. were originally horned but through breeding up programs polledness has been introduced from other breeds and selectively bred for, so now a high percentage of cattle of those breeds in the US are now polled.
Then you get into heterozygous and homozygous polled.
Heterozygous polled means that an individual is polled but still Carrie's a horn gene, and when mated with another heterozygous polled individual the resulting calf could be horned and if bred to a horned individual the result will be likely be a horned calf.
Homozygous polled means that an individual will not have horned calves .
Most continental breeds like Charolais, Simmental, Limousin, Gelbvieh, etc. were originally horned but through breeding up programs polledness has been introduced from other breeds and selectively bred for, so now a high percentage of cattle of those breeds in the US are now polled.
Then you get into heterozygous and homozygous polled.
Heterozygous polled means that an individual is polled but still Carrie's a horn gene, and when mated with another heterozygous polled individual the resulting calf could be horned and if bred to a horned individual the result will be likely be a horned calf.
Homozygous polled means that an individual will not have horned calves .
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bscattle
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When breeding do breeders/ranchers prefer polled! Less dangerous for humans and other livestock…or does it really matter?
Ky hills
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Around here people overwhelmingly prefer polled. There are some people that want horned cattle especially in breeds like Hereford and Charolais because they say they are better than most of their polled counterparts.
Even for people that have horned cattle it is advantageous to dehorn the calves before selling. They will get docked if they have horns.
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billyB, thank you for your comments. This has been discussed many times on this board, and your explanation is the clearest and best I've seen. The African horn gene figures in, as mentioned, but only in cattle with Brahman blood.
Jeanne - Simme Valley
Well-known member
Polled is definitely preferred by breeders - exceptions being Longhorn, etc.
Just because an animal is "called" Angus doesn't mean it is guaranteed Homo Polled. There are a LOT of commercial cows that are black and may or may not be PP (Homo Polled).
@Ky hills agreed above, but he did say "it was advantageous to DEFORM" - he meant DEHORN.
Just because an animal is "called" Angus doesn't mean it is guaranteed Homo Polled. There are a LOT of commercial cows that are black and may or may not be PP (Homo Polled).
@Ky hills agreed above, but he did say "it was advantageous to DEFORM" - he meant DEHORN.
wbvs58
Well-known member
All of the above as well as animal welfare concerns not having to put them through the dehorning process and meat bruising during transport.
Ken
Ky hills
Well-known member
Thanks, for pointing that typo out, I went back and edited it to say dehorn. Deform wasn't the term I was going for
You can get polled Brahman cattle.
Only time I can think of where being polled will hurt you is on Hereford cattle. You will see people specifically say... out of horned, Hereford bulls... when they advertise for that reason.
Travlr
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When polled cattle began to become popular there were a lot of claims being made that polled bulls threw calves with blockier heads and therefore they had more calving problems.
Not sure there was any truth to the claims and it hasn't stopped people from using polled bulls.
Horns are an inconvenience. You can band them or use a chemical on them when buds, or you can physically dehorn with a tool, but that's just another operation that takes time, effort, and money. And prices at the point of sale will reflect the fact that buyers don't like horns.
