Our Dun girl

[Maple View Farm]

A friend wanted me to move this to the right section so everyone can see my kiddo's favorite moo.

my kiddo wanted me to show you her "golden girl". I would love to have a pasture full of them. They are beautiful! The kid is training hers to milk and she does it without even tying her off. she has the best manners and literally lets the kid hang on her. One day I'm going to go out there and see her riding her!!

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[rhonda]

Aren't they pretty? Hang on to her -- she's a keeper!

[laughingllama75]

Awesome! A cow that that is a keeper, for sure!

[hollydzie]

Glad you put her in the proper place LOL We may end up with a dun next year. Then we will have all colors.

It is so nice when they are pretty and sweet ;D

Holly

[ssrdex]

Lovely dun! She has a nice feminine head

[Maple View Farm]

Here is another view of one of our duns. We just love them.

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[Maple View Farm]

The Kiddo says "thank you everyone for the nice comments on her baby". She is so laid back that last year at our show, we used her as a table to put our show list papers on while we were waiting to go into each class. At one point, my dad had a elbow proped on her leaning on her, relaxing. She never moved, just stood there as sweet as can be.

A2 testing is next for her as I think the kiddo is going to milk her this year.

[Morning Star Farm]

Both are keepers! Nice looking girls

[lakeportfarms]

Both are very pretty girls. We love our duns a lot. On another thread there was a question about the eyes...they have very light color eyes and they really jump out at you. In the fall when we have apples to pick from the trees, our dun cow Rosie hears the "snap", and she starts walking very fast toward us with those eyes piercing through you like "THAT APPLE BETTER BE FOR ME!"...

[Maple View Farm]

LOL!! I know the kiddo's girl has a lighter brown eye and when you scratch her she gives "puppy eyes". Do you think they tolerate the heat better? Here it gets so humid you can just about cut it with a knife. What are your thoughts?

[Cascade Meadows Farm - Kirk]

Feb 22, 2013 15:02:21 GMT -5 Maple View Farm said:

Do you think they (duns) tolerate the heat better (than blacks)?

I don't think it's a matter of tolerance, but rather a matter of heat absorption. Black cows (in sunshine) are actually HOTTER than lighter colored cows.

A black coat collects MUCH more heat than a lighter coat. When sunshine strikes a black object, that black object absorbs the light and converts it to heat. But light colored objects reflect the light and reflect the heat.

On a very sunniest day, go put your hand on the back of a black cow and it will feel very HOT. Then put your hand on a red or dun and feel the lower temperature.

If you do this test while the cows are in the shade, you won't notice much difference. Black cows need summer shade more than red or dun cows do (I go to great lengths to assure all my cows and all animals ALWAYS have access to shade in summer).

Now on sunny days in the cold of winter, that extra warm black coat can feel pretty good. Folks in the north tend to prefer black coats to help keep cows warm, while folks in the south tend to prefer lighter coats to help keep cows cool.

[ssrdex]

After reading this thread it dawned on me that in the cool evenings this time of year, as I touch my cows when I feed, the blacks are moist & the duns are dry. Is this due to warmer body temps? I don't have a great grasp of science...Kirk? What do you think? Am I crazy?

[Cascade Meadows Farm - Kirk]

Feb 26, 2013 17:30:34 GMT -5 ssrdex said:

After reading this thread it dawned on me that in the cool evenings this time of year, as I touch my cows when I feed, the blacks are moist & the duns are dry. Is this due to warmer body temps? I don't have a great grasp of science...Kirk? What do you think? Am I crazy?

No, you likely aren't crazy. It's likely condensation of sweat (and air moisture) that you are noticing. Lot's of folks believe that cows don't sweat, but that's not true. They have VERY well developed sweat glands in the nose, but they have not-so-well developed sweat glands over their bodies. They can sweat profusely from the nose, but sweating is slight and mostly imperceptible on their bodies, but they do sweat slightly on most of their bodies (some breeds sweat more, especially Brahmas).

In the case of blacks, after all day long of absorbing more heat from the sun added to the serious heat from digestion, a black cow is going to have a higher body temperature and is going to sweat more than a lighter colored cow.

During the day, the sweat just evaporates away unnoticed, but in the evening as the hair starts to chill and the air itself becomes more humid, then the evaporated sweat from the skin easily condenses on the evening-chilled hair of the cow

So a black warmer/sweatier cow, will have more condensation on the chilled hair than a light dun colored cow that has a lower body temperature and less sweat.

[Dahdo]

I can attest to cattle sweating. After an hour of schlepping around the pasture with me telling them to step up, gee, haw, and whoa, my oxen-in-training are definitely warm and their coat is moist. They are without a doubt, sweaty. So am I for that matter. 😊

[Maple View Farm]

Thanks everyone for such nice comments on my kiddo's favorite moo. She says thank you, and "no she is not for sale" LOL!!

Dahdo, I wish you could come to our place and give oxen training lessons. We are making maple syrup now and I have 2 little guys that would make a great team. One is a shade taller than the other though. It is a muddy mess this year collecting sap and I'm curious as to oxen vs. 4-wheeler in the mud. What do you think?