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Post by littlecowfl on Mar 2, 2012 10:20:55 GMT -5
Thank you for all the responses! Once I realized this was causing a bit of controversy, I contacted the bull's owner and she is researching it. There were no other bulls on my farm last spring except for a 7 month old recent steer that is black and carries neither red nor dun. I still have several straws from the same lab and I am confident that we can confirm who the bull is once the calf is tested. It may be that lab confused straws from the same farm or it may be that the color testing that was done on the bull years ago may be outdated due to a better current understanding of dun genes. If the latter is true, I will pass on any recommendations.
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Post by cddexter on Mar 2, 2012 22:31:20 GMT -5
Just to clarify, Alicia...the red factor test was available in 1997, but other than the original Dexter research at that time, Dexters in general were not tested unitl 1999. The dun gene was identified in 2002 and testing was available soon after. Neither loci nor tests have changed. I'm sure you'll hear from the breeder, and it's possible the bull was only tested for red initially, and further dun testing was not carried out. c.
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Post by wdd on Mar 2, 2012 23:55:20 GMT -5
I have some animals from Sandi and your little gal looks like a little RED bull that was born here a couple years ago (his Dam doesn't carry dun nor does the Sire). To me the nose looks more pink than lavender or tan that my duns have had.
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Post by littlecowfl on Mar 3, 2012 8:00:00 GMT -5
How interesting, wdd. Do you have any current pictures? Did the calf's coat color change much during the first year? I will definitely color test her before registration.
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Post by littlecowfl on Mar 3, 2012 12:13:10 GMT -5
I did not color test Bonny but I do know that her sire carried only dun. Not sure about her dam.
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Post by wdd on Mar 3, 2012 12:15:26 GMT -5
I no longer have the bull, but his coat color did turn darker as he grew.
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Post by littlecowfl on Mar 3, 2012 15:08:46 GMT -5
Did he actually look red?
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Post by wdd on Mar 3, 2012 19:19:44 GMT -5
He was a very light red and I had a Dun that was almost the same color. As Gene pointed out, if the Dam doesn't carry red then all this speculation is for not. From your picture I couldn't place a bet one way or another since I have had and seen too many shades of Dun and Red. Testing is the only way to know for sure.
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