Watusi & African horn gene

[Taurus]

It may sounds dumb question but do Watusi cattle have African horn gene? We had an exotic sale at one of our local sale barn and few Watusi cows runs in the ring. Some yearlings brought for $400 to $800. I was tempted to bid on these yearling heifers but decided to pass on them. Tried to research on Watusi and the crossbreeding but can't find anyone who tried using regular beef bull on the Watusi cows and produced a marketable polled calf.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

I thought, at one time, there was a CT member who had experience with Watusi and cross breeding with them.

I thought it might have been Andybob maybe?

Katherine

 

[chippie]

A neighbor had a watusi cross bull that would jump the fences. He roamed far and near and bred one of our cows. The calf (a heifer) was born with horn nubs over 3/4 inches long. She was wild as could be, even though she had been handled and her mother was tame. Her mother was a polled Jersey. I sold her at weaning.

 

[Rosielou]

They're best suited for harsh hot & dry climates. I hear they're pretty disease resistant and for low birthweights. I figure they're kind of like longhorns but a bit wilder. I bet if you put a char bull you might get alright calves. But I think they're mainly used to cross with longhorns for extra horn growth and as ornaments.

 

[wacocowboy]

I knew a guy who use a Watusi bull on some beef cows ok bodies on the calves but all had crazy horns.

 

[Taurus]

Dang! These African horn genes must be dominant over the polled gene.

 

[alexfarms]

Dang! These African horn genes must be dominant over the polled gene.

I've often heard the African horn gene is harder to breed off than the British horn gene. The African horn gene is a separate gene from the British horn gene and the scur gene. You can read a lot of articles on the genes and get different answers. It appears, the African horn gene is sex linked, like scurs. It's dominant in males and recessive in females, like scurs. It also may be influenced by the presence or absence of the British horn gene, like scurs. It's kinda like scurs, complicated.

 

[Andyva]

According to what I understand of it, it is a dominant gene. Separate from the recessive horn gene in continentals and British. When it is present in homo form it will give you horns on the cows and the bulls. When it is in hetero form it can give you horned bulls and polled cows. I also understand it can come into play with zebu influenced cattle. If you bred a cow that you got at the stockyard that had some ear on it to a purebred polled bull and get a bull calf with horns, it doesn't prove that someone fudged the papers on the bull.

 

[greybeard]

A neighbor had a watusi cross bull that would jump the fences. He roamed far and near and bred one of our cows. The calf (a heifer) was born with horn nubs over 3/4 inches long. She was wild as could be, even though she had been handled and her mother was tame. Her mother was a polled Jersey. I sold her at weaning.

Never saw a Jersey influenced anything that didn't have a wild streak in 'em.
There's a Watusi breeder not far from here between Cleveland and Dayton (he may be on CT or Ranchers) that has a bunch of them and he claims they are all calm as anything on his website.

http://www.workinonitranch.com/

 

[Bigfoot]

I knew longhorns defy the laws dominant and recessive genes, I never knew till a few weeks ago on here why.

 

[Taurus]

I knew longhorns defy the laws dominant and recessive genes, I never knew till a few weeks ago on here why.

I suspected that longhorns probably got African horn genes from crossbreeding with Watusi and eared cattle. From what I read in the link CB posted, a small percentage of longhorns carried African horn genes.