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Post by WillowsEdgeFarm on Feb 24, 2014 7:00:53 GMT -5
This may seem like a basic question but I honestly don't know the answer. :0
At what age can you tell horned or polled? I have one little bull calf out of a polled cow by a polled bull. My inclination is he's polled but wondering at what age can you really tell? Or what to look for?
Thanks all!
Corinne
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Post by Fran on Feb 24, 2014 8:00:08 GMT -5
You usually can tell by feeling for the little horn buds. I had 4 born last week and I'm pretty sure that 2 of them are horned and 2 are polled. And if you're still really unsure, you can send in tail hairs and have the polled test done.
I'm sure that others on here with alot more experience than me will chime in shortly.
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Post by Olga on Feb 24, 2014 9:13:20 GMT -5
I feel their head as soon as I can get my hands on them. The shape of the poll will be different and you won't find horn buttons on the polled calves.
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zephyrhillsusan
member
Caught Dexteritis in Dec. 2009. Member of this forum since Oct. 2013.
Posts: 1,502 
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Post by zephyrhillsusan on Feb 24, 2014 9:56:42 GMT -5
Polled calves have pointy heads, kind of like cone-heads.  Of course, it's easier to tell the difference if you have both kinds to compare, which I didn't, but I could still tell once I knew what to feel for. |
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Post by Fran on Feb 24, 2014 11:00:42 GMT -5
Cone-heads - definitely made me snicker!
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Post by WillowsEdgeFarm on Feb 24, 2014 19:47:53 GMT -5
So to me it sounds like the horn buttons are visible from birth, is that correct? LOVE the cone head!! I knew they had different shares, but great name. |
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Post by midhilldexters on Feb 24, 2014 20:13:01 GMT -5
Its easier to tell on bull calves than heifers, they can be felt almost right away if they have horns. Sometimes it can take a heifer several weeks, and longer, to be able to feel horns.
So if you think you have a polled heifer, check her head on a regular basis.
Carol K
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Post by Fran on Feb 25, 2014 6:58:13 GMT -5
Definitely what Carol K said!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2014 14:37:32 GMT -5
My two calves are two weeks old, I don't feel horn buds. They have a Pp sire and pp dam. So there is a 50% chance of polled. I raised three jersey bottle calves last year and could see the horn buds right away. Would I be able to feel horn buds on my Dexter calves easily if they had them? I am having them tested for polled with Texas a&m, not sure how long that will take.
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Post by Fran on Mar 31, 2014 18:33:26 GMT -5
The way I understand it (and Lord knows I could be wrong) is if your animal is polled and he has one polled and 1 horned parent then he is heterozygous polled. If both parents are polled he could be homozygous polled.
I was pretty sure on my polled and horned calves within the first week or so. But I had horned that I could compare to (hope this makes sense). When I sent the tail hairs in for Faith's polled test, I had the results back within a couple of weeks. I sent them to UC Davis.
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Post by legendrockranch on Mar 31, 2014 19:26:19 GMT -5
If both parents are polled he could be homozygous polled. Fran, if both parents are hetero polled, here are the possibilities: 25% horned, 50% hetero polled, 25% homo polled. Pinevalley, it was a good choice of yours to have them tested. No guessing games. Some people can tell immediately if a calf is horned or polled. I for some reason always had a problem  Barb |
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Post by hollydzie on Mar 31, 2014 19:35:19 GMT -5
It was interesting our last 2 calves were heifers, the one I knew would be horned the other had a 50% chance of being polled. They both ended up being horned. When I shaved the area where the horn bud would be I found it interesting that the hair over the horn bud area was a much dark color. It was an obvious dark round spot. We dehorned them both with paste and had wonderful results.
Let us know what you kids end up testing....
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2014 21:39:52 GMT -5
I will let you know. I think the bull is polled. The heifer I am not sure. I will keep checking. Last year I raised three jersey steer calves, we got them at two days old. I knew they were horned and we dehorned them early. The Dexters seem harder to tell. I used Texas A&M I sent everything in on March 17th. I am also genotyping them both. They are out of one of Chuck Daggett's bulls Daggett's Monti, and I own Daggett's Pride. I believe they were a couple of the last calves he raised.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2014 17:22:19 GMT -5
My two calves are two weeks old, I don't feel horn buds. They have a Pp sire and pp dam. So there is a 50% chance of polled. I raised three jersey bottle calves last year and could see the horn buds right away. Would I be able to feel horn buds on my Dexter calves easily if they had them? I am having them tested for polled with Texas a&m, not sure how long that will take. I received the test results back today, both Finnegan, and Colette are heterozygous for Poll allele, Polled C, They are both black, and carry red and dun. Ed/e+Bb negative for Chrondo and PHA HN, HN I also genotyped them both. just thought I would share. |
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Post by legendrockranch on Apr 2, 2014 18:21:23 GMT -5
Congratulations on your results!
Barb
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Of course, it's easier to tell the difference if you have both kinds to compare, which I didn't, but I could still tell once I knew what to feel for.
