Notch Ears?

[ladena]

We had a calf born in August 2011 that has small notches in its ears. It's not much but they are there. His mom's ears are normal. I'm just wondering how big of a flaw this is considered and does the size of the notch matter; smaller notch okay but large not okay.

[cddexter]

Hi Ladena. Depending on how you feel about (mostly) cosmetic genetic issues, it's not a big deal, but it's probably a good idea not to use the calf for breeding if it's a bull. The notch is I believe one of those defects that are considered semi dominant. One gene can get you very small notches, two genes can get you almost no ear at all.

While some calves may get frostbite and have 'clipped' ears, usually the issue is genetic and many owners don't realize it and so don't pay attention.

On the pro side, some people think it's 'cute', and have named them valentine ears because of the overall shape.

On the con side, you can be left with not enough ear to tattoo or even get a tag into.

Overall, it's not something you'd actively breed for if you can help it, and if the calf is a heifer and you keep her, I'd be checking pretty carefully the ears of any potential sire to make sure you can't double up the gene. c.

[ladena]

C, yes, it is a bull calf. We bought his mother already bred and her ears are normal. We also have the dam of the bull that he is by and her ears are normal also. I called the man that we bought the cows from and he said it comes from the bull's sire. He also has a cow by this same bull and she has the notches also. Other than the ears, he is a nice looking calf and we debated on leaving him intact and seeing how he would mature, but we have decided to steer him. I'm thankful that it didn't come through the cow.

[copperhead]

There is another thread about this, I had a heifer with notched ears, and Patti gave me the info about how they were the "chosen" cattle, something about fairys and all It's not considered a flaw, I don't think, just a quirky kind of thing.

[kansasdexters]

Hi P.J.

Here is what I'd posted previously on this subject:

All of the Dexters that I've heard of with notch ears go back to the dam (Gort
Sunbeam, ADCA No. 48C) of the "Notch-eared" Dexter cow Gort Sunbeam 5th, ADCA
No. 114. It is her "Original Import" Irish genetics that have embellished those
ears!

I have a photo of Gort Sunbeam 5th, ADCA No. 114, and it's very evident that she
has the notch ear trait.

For your reading enjoyment on the specialness of the ancient "notch ear" trait:

"The sign has associations in the Scottish Isles which are significant of its
great antiquity. In the course of an official report on the agragarian customs
of the Outer Hebrides, Alexander Carmichael, prior to the publication of his
Carmina Gadelica, describes the casting of lots for rigs of land. " The
constable takes a rod and divides the scat [share of land] into six equal
divisions. At the boundary of each division he cuts a mark-Gaelic, beum-in the
ground, which is called by the curious name of "tort". The tort resembles the
broad arrow of the Ordnance Department. The word "tort" signifies a notch, and
is applied to cattle whose ears are notched. These notch-eared
cattle-tore-chluasach-are frequent in the Western Isles, and are spoken of as
sliocd a chroidh mhara, the descendants of the fabled sea-cattle." The same
mark was used, among others, in recording temporary divisions of land among
English villagers also."

(Ref:
www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/fulltext/scrap2/ch04_1.htm )

Here's more:

Google Books: Carmina Gadelica, p. 298 or just do a Google search for
"tore-chluasach"

Here's a good link for Celtic Legend concerning cows:
www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/ali/ali089.htm

So while there are some breeders that consider this to be a genetic "defect", it
is actually an ancient trait that was reverred in Ireland in the days of old.
It was the mark of the "fairy cattle" or the "sea cattle" of ancient Irish
legend.


Patti



Read more: dextercattle.proboards.com/index.cgi#ixzz1h2mBw0jc

[copperhead]

Yeah, that was it, thanks Patti

[Olga]

Patti, I'm confused. The ADCA online pedigree is only showing 5 descendants of that Gort cow. So how could she influence something today? Or did I misunderstand something?
Sioux has notched ears and she has passed that trait on to many of her offspring. I wonder where she got hers from. They are not only notched, they are rather small also.

Thank you
Olga

[kansasdexters]

Hi Olga,

The ADCA Online pedigree (and the ADCA computerized records) do not have all of the older registrations inputted. The registry records weren't computerized until the 1980's and it's an enormous task for the Registrar just to keep up with the current registrations and transfers. Inputting historical registrations is a low priority task. That's why the "Descendents" button doesn't give you the complete list of Gort Sunbeam's descendents. There are breaks in the links and missing data that prevent the program from working properly and showing all of her descendents.

In order to follow pedigrees all the way back, we have to use the hard copy herd books and/or Dan Randall's compilation that was based on the old ADCA herd books. When I want to trace back a pedigree, I use Dan Randall's book, "The Breeding History of Kerrys and Irish Dexter Cattle of North America", published in 1987 and then use the hard copy ADCA herd books that go forward from where his book ends.

I looked at the pedigree for Siders' Sioux Maiden, ADCA No. 5550 and found multiple ancestors (i.e. Captain Vallant #764, Jim Dandy of Shady Pine #1465, Maudie Klein of HyDrif #1822, Country Charm Casey #1793) that all can be traced back to Gort Sunbeam #48C, through her daughter Gort Sunbeam 2d. (From the photo of Gort Sunbeam 5th, it shows very pronounced ear notches, therefore, she inherited the notch ear gene from both her dam and from her sire in order to have expressed the trait so strongly. That means that Gort Sunbeam #48C at least carried the notch ear trait, and therefore all of her offspring had at least a 50% chance of getting it from her. Since Gort Sunbeam 2d and Gort Sunbeam 5th were both daughters of Gort Sunbeam, for the following analysis, I'm making the assumption that Gort Sunbeam 2d also inherited the notch ear trait and then passed it on to her offspring.)

Gort Sunbeam, ADCA #48C, was the dam of Gort Sunbeam 2d, ADCA #24.
Gort Sunbeam 2d, ADCA #24, was the dam of Elemendorf's Master, ADCA #27.
Elemendorf's Master, ADCA #27, was the sire of Shannon, ADCA #65.
Shannon, ADCA #65, was the sire of Buttercup of Hempstead House, ADCA #291.
Buttercup of Hempstead House, ADCA #291, was the dam of Captain of Hempstead House, ADCA #289.

Now, look at Sioux's extended pedigree and count how many times Captain of Hempstead House appears. You'll see that he appears over and over again, in different generations, on both Sioux's sire and dam pedigrees. Captain of Hempstead House can be traced back to Gort Sunbeam ADCA #48C, through his dam, Buttercup of Hempstead House ADCA #291.

Peerless Mousie, ADCA #708, is another ancestor that can be traced back to Gort Sunbeam #48C and she appears multiple times in Sioux's extended pedigree.

We don't really know for sure if either (or both) Captain of Hempstead House or Peerless Mousie actually carried the notch ear trait. From the pedigree analysis, we only know that Siders' Sioux Maiden carries the notch ear trait and that her pedigree can be traced back all the way to Gort Sunbeam, ADCA #48C, a cow that carried the notch ear trait.

Patti

[Olga]

That is so cool! Thank you!

Merry Christmas,
Olga