Skunk tale calves

[charangusman08]

I have been getting skunk tale calves out of my black and red cows bred to a Charolais/Red Angus cross bull. I do not get why this is happening. 20 cows are black and 27 are red. The guy we bought the bull said the reason is because the cows have Simmental in them. Is this true? We have had about 20 calves so far and 15 have had white bellies and a white stripe down there back and tail. Some of the red cows I know have Simmental in them but don't think any of the black ones do. Thoughts?

 

[glacierridge]

It'll happen with some of that char blood.
We have a few in our herd that have it.

 

[Taurus]

I've heard from some folks that had skunks out of Charolais crossbreeding. I don't think I ever seen a skunk out of Simmentals.

 

[Andyva]

I remember stopping by a neighbor's place one time and he had a vet out doing preg checks, and there was this one old cow that came through, she had rubbed herself on something and you could see the skin on her back. It was a mousey colored cow, and she had grey hair all over but the skin was white in a stripe down her back and dark everywhere else. If you looked close you could tell she had white hide on her tail, too. That vet said that that was a Charolais trait, he said that the real deal Charolais back in France had a skunk stripe just in their skin color, but not in their hair. He said that they would throw skunk tailed calves from time to time, depending on what you crossed them with, when they have that trait.

 

[charangusman08]

So it's the Charolais in them and not the Simmental?? They are nice solid calves just dont like the white belly and white stripe down there back.

 

[Taurus]

So it's the Charolais in them and not the Simmental?? They are nice solid calves just dont like the white belly and white stripe down there back.

Yeah it's Charolais trait. White belly isn't that huge deal for most folks. White stripes on other hand....well I hope they looks good at weaning time. If you don't like the stripes and if they docked you at the salebarn for these skunks, perhaps its time for a new bull.

 

[randiliana]

It is a Char trait, but from what I understand it is more because in the USA and Canada the Char breed was bred up. That is they brought bulls over, bred them to whatever was on hand, and kept breeding the resulting heifers back to Char until they were bred back up to purebred status. There are also Char bulls out there that will throw White faces as well.

 

[Taurus]

There are also Char bulls out there that will throw White faces as well.

Or spots!

 

[charangusman08]

perhaps its time for a new bull.[/quote]
Sold the bull few days ago and just got a red angus yearling

 

[Lucky_P]

Yep. Have seen 'finching' on a lot of Charolais-cross cattle through the years.
Had one little yellow lineback/skunk-tailed cow back in the 80s that threw more skunk-tailed calves, when bred to Angus bulls, than did her daughter who was half Pinzgauer.

 

[charangusman08]

There nice calves just not looking forward to them being docked in prices when we sell them at the sale barn. They sort them off red or black cattle, they even sell black baldies and red baldies(what we call red necks around here) but not skunk tails.

 

[deenranch]

Some of the Charolais genetics will give you an occational skunk tail. The Simmi will also do it. My wife's uncle has Simmi/Limmi Cows and breeds them to a Black Angus bull. He gets a lot of skunk tails. I have the same type of cows that we use for recips in our embryo program. If the embryo doesn't take, they get bred to a Charolais bull (DeBruycker genetics) I have only had 2 skunk tailed calves in the last 10 years and we have 20-30 of these type recips.

 

[Taurus]

The Simmi will also do it.

I can't recalled that Simmi will throw skunks and I don't think I ever seen any skunks out of Simmi. But in this situation, it was this Charolais bull that is responsible for these skunk calves.

 

[Stocker Steve]

It is a Char trait,

Are we talking about white stripes down the back or a white tip on the tail?

 

[Taurus]

It is a Char trait,

Are we talking about white stripes down the back or a white tip on the tail?

White stripes down the back with a full white tail. Hence the term skunk.

 

[tsonda4570]

See that on the Chars here. The good new is they are still worth a lot of money.

 

[Taurus]

See that on the Chars here. The good new is they are still worth a lot of money.

That depends on which sale barn you take the calves to. Here, the skunks will got you docked and I've seen lot of decent skunks that got sold for less than their solid siblings.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

The Simmi will also do it.

I can't recalled that Simmi will throw skunks and I don't think I ever seen any skunks out of Simmi. But in this situation, it was this Charolais bull that is responsible for these skunk calves.

I agree Taurus. Now some crazy color can pop up from the old Fleck influence, but never a skunk tail.

 

[Taurus]

The Simmi will also do it.

I can't recalled that Simmi will throw skunks and I don't think I ever seen any skunks out of Simmi. But in this situation, it was this Charolais bull that is responsible for these skunk calves.

I agree Taurus. Now some crazy color can pop up from the old Fleck influence, but never a skunk tail.

I believe ya, my late grandpa had some fleck cows running with black angus bulls and got solid, spotted, smokey and whitefaced calves but never a skunk. I knew there are some Simmi bulls that are spotted gene carriers but they don't throw skunks either.

 

[Stocker Steve]

It is a Char trait,

Are we talking about white stripes down the back or a white tip on the tail?

White stripes down the back with a full white tail. Hence the term skunk.

So then what gives you a white tail switch on a solid colored cow?