Where did the Brindle come from?

[fourstates]

I have a white face dun calf born in april who is now brindle. I thought he had rubbed his back on some burnt brush and the rain caused the stripes. I then thought that dirt was causing an amazing tiger stripe pattern. Now I know he IS a tiger stripe. Is that how brindle works..I appears after birth? The coat may change a shade or two when they shed out. But I never saw a pattern develop 2 months after birth. I have read the genetics of coat color and it made my eyes cross. The dam is a white face roan.

 

[UCFLonghorn]

post a pic - I looooooooooove brindles.

 

[Ryan]

we had a cow give birth to a brown and white spotted bull calf one year. wasnt much of a calf, so we didnt pay real close attention to him as he grew. weaning time comes around, and we have an extra black and white spotted calf in the pen. this calf turned from brown and white to black and white. we had to compare pictures and match spots to verify it was in fact the same calf.

we have had calve born solid, too, that ended up brindle. i guess it just shows up more as they age.

 

[randiliana]

Try this link. It talks about the brindle coloration, but I'm not sure how deep it goes.

http://home.austin.rr.com/doublehelix/colorPart3.html

 

[fourstates]

Thanks, Rand, that was very helpful and answered the question, that brindle appears as the calf matures.

 

[randiliana]

Thanks, Rand, that was very helpful and answered the question, that brindle appears as the calf matures.

Glad it helped. I have read it, but couldn't remember what it said, and I didn't go completely through it again.

 

[Rustler9]

Yes, that's how brindle works or at least in Longhorn cattle. This year we've had several red calves born and as they age they start to brindle. I've only had one calf born in the last ten years that was born brindle. This little bull is from last year's calf crop, his dam is a brindle and this is the first brindle calf she has produced. She has a red and white lineback heifer this year with a lacey face and an appaloosa rump from the same sire as the calf in the photo. Full siblings and they look nothing alike.

We also have calves from time to time who carry the wild gene that are born brown or brown and white and later turn black or black and white. David Hillis who wrote the article explaining how the different genes work is a very knowledgable and interesting person to talk to.

 

[DrumRunner728]

Rustler, we have an almost solid white heifer - she has brown/red on her ears and nose and few "freckles" on the bottom of her front legs. Any idea what she's going to do colorwise? She sure has me stumped!

 

[DrumRunner728]

Here's a little better picture of her legs - you can see the brown on the backs of her ears, too.

 

[cowwrangler]

she will stay the color she is,shade of red might lighten,i have a couple like that but only black where yours is red

 

[Rustler9]

DrumRunner,
That heifer will stay white with red ears, nose and feet. That is a Butler trait. A very few will actually speckle or roan up as they get older but not many of them will. Usually, if they are going to color up more you can see pigment under the white hair. If that's a calf out of Joe Graddy's stock it'll probably stay white. He has alot of white in his herd because he has alot of Butler blood in them. Alot of white is undesirable, you won't see alot of white bulls but heifers are ok as long as you breed them back to a bull with a lot of color to try to minimize the white. That white Butler color pattern is a trait that's hard to get out once you have it. I'm not knocking Joe's cattle, we have two bulls out of his herd and also have a lot of Butler and Butler blend cattle ourselves.

 

[DrumRunner728]

Thanks, Rustler. She is out of a cow we purchased from Joe Graddy. Just curious, but why is white considered undesirable? Personally, I like a lot of color and picked the cows we have largely based on color (certainly some other considerations thrown in too). This is the heifer's mama and if I remember correctly, the bull was mostly white or cream colored. I'll have to check her papers again to confirm that.

 

[DrumRunner728]

post a pic - I looooooooooove brindles.

UCF, don't know how you feel about Longhorns, but this is just for you! ;-)

 

[Rustler9]

DrumRunner,
The white is considered undesirable by alot of folks because once it's in your herd it's there to stay. White calves will keep cropping up even out of red or black cows. Most people will not keep a white bull, cows yes but not a bull. I'll bet your calf is out of Paladin-he's white. He's a very good bull, half brother to the Gun Smoke bull but the chances of getting white calves out of him are greater than from a colored bull. Just try to breed your white cows to bulls with alot of color to downplay the white. Again, it's ok to have white in your herd but before you know it you'll have over 50% white if you're not careful.

 

[DrumRunner728]

Rustler, you are correct! This heifer is out of Paladin.

This is really interesting to me and I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions. I'm trying to learn everything I can about these magnificent animals. ;-)

 

[Rustler9]

You're quite welcome. There's no dumb questions and ten years ago I was just like you-asking lots of questions. We have to help each other to keep this great breed going.

 

[DrumRunner728]

I probably call and pester poor Joe about once a week. He's really patient and tells me the same thing - there are no dumb questions. He knows that hubby and I both love these animals and want to be sure they get only the best of care.

I could ask questions about Longhorns all day long . . .

 

[Rustler9]

Here's some of our Butler influenced white heifers, all yearlings. The first three heifers are out of our Shenandoah Conquest bull-he throws all colors but several have been white. His dam was a 72" horned white 1/2 Butler cow. Fortunately, he puts out 2 to 1 heifers to bulls.

This heifer is out of the Shenandoah bull and a double bred Texas Ranger cow from Darol Dickinson.

The one on the left (roan) is out of a Gun Smoke son, the other is out of our Levi 6 son

 

[DrumRunner728]

Pretty ladies, Rustler! Maybe I'm just weird but I like the white. One of the nicest cows I think we have is mostly white by these standards.

 

[Rustler9]

I really don't have problem with the white either but some people do. I was just telling you what my observations have been over the years at sales. Of course, if the cow has a ton of horn she'll still bing a good price.

That's a nice cow-is she out of Gun Smoke, Paladin or someone else?