Red hairs on BA?

[Stocker Steve]

I have purchased a group that has a couple "black angus" that have a thin dark red shine over the entire body. If you look close it appears to be longer red guard hairs with a black undercoat. Any tips on what causes this?

 

[alacattleman]

mineral deficiency....

 

[aussie_cowgirl]

Could be a copper deficiency

edit: how is your legume growth? poor growth of legumes somewhat indicates a Cu deficiency. If they're flourishing then it's probably something else.

 

[Avalon]

Copper

 

[ga. prime]

Could be red black angus.

 

[alftn]

Most likey minerals or sun bleached, although I get a reddish calf from time to time, usually turn solid black after a while...

 

[Stocker Steve]

Most likey minerals or sun bleached, although I get a reddish calf from time to time, usually turn solid black after a while...

I have seen reddish calves.These two weigh 500#.
I have seen a lot of them with a red tint to the back or the area above the front shoulders. This uniform all over.
The cows look like they have some shorthorn blood...

 

[Aero]

i havent found an explanation for it yet, but i swear i can see different shades of black (registered angus, non-red carriers)

 

[Jake]

Being this time of year the calves should have good hair and not slick. If so the culprit on the red hairs is most likely just sun bleaching similar to how your hair will get bleached out over the summer. Copper deficiency for most of the country isn't that common and your more likely to see it in cows or yearling cattle that have had time for the deficiency to actually influence their hair coat.

 

[aussie_cowgirl]

Being this time of year the calves should have good hair and not slick. If so the culprit on the red hairs is most likely just sun bleaching similar to how your hair will get bleached out over the summer. Copper deficiency for most of the country isn't that common and your more likely to see it in cows or yearling cattle that have had time for the deficiency to actually influence their hair coat.

Pretty good point. However, there are exceptions to the rule as with everything.

He also said that the red was uniform and had total coverage. Not like the usual sun bleach pattern. Either way I think you'd have to look at the total operation to find the real cause.

 

[Frankie]

I have purchased a group that has a couple "black angus" that have a thin dark red shine over the entire body. If you look close it appears to be longer red guard hairs with a black undercoat. Any tips on what causes this?

We calve in Jan/Feb and some of the calves will have a rusty red coat. When they slick off, they'll be black of course, but the long hair on some will have a reddish tinge. If the cattle are slick haired and red, maybe they're not Angus?

 

[alisonb]

Lower concentrations of black pigment Eumelanin can sometimes look grey/brown
just like lower concentrations of red pigment Phaeomelanin can look yellow/ orange but you say 'red' :?: :?:

 

[robert]

certainly copper deficiency is a possibility, probability even, but curious about the Angus bloodlines used, I've noticed this phenomenon in GDAR Rainmaker 340 influenced cattle more than any other.