Calf born black now looks brown

[Bóaire Dexters]

We had our first calf April 13th, 2016, so he is about 5 weeks old.  He was born black, but now he looks brown.  His sire is red and dam is black.  Do they lose coat and become black again, or might he be brown because of the red and black genetics.

[zephyrhillsusan]

Bóaire Dexters, your calf is black, but the black ones that carry red always turn brown at some point. If you look around his eyes, you should see blacker circles. That's where he's shedding out a bit to his real color. Give him some time, and he'll be black again.

There are brownish Dexters called duns, but both parents would have to carry dun for your calf to be dun. If your bull carried dun and your black cow did, too, your calf could be dun, but my guess is he's black and carries red.

[Bóaire Dexters]

Thank you! We thought that might be the case, but really had no idea what to expect.

[zephyrhillsusan]

The learning curve is so steep when it's your first cow ever! We called the vet because we thought something was wrong with our day-old heifer. She was sleeping with her head bent back like her neck was broken, and she looked dead. Even when we handled her we couldn't get her to wake up. We actually had her in the truck on our way to the vet when she finally woke up and we quickly realized there was nothing at all wrong with her--in fact, she was very lively and strong! I have to laugh looking back at it now, but at the time we were really scared.  There's nothing like experience, and there's only one way to get it. 

[littlecowfl]

These were my first two and they confused me, too, so no one blames you for asking. Since then, I just enjoy the colors of baby black Dexters that carry either dun or red. Both of these heifers turned out black.

[littlecowfl]

Here's another picture of one of the girls above. I'm breeding this black cow to a red bull via AI this year, just to see what happens.

[legendrockranch]

Cute pictures. The face shot of that heifer is priceless.

[zephyrhillsusan]

That is a sweet photo, littlecowfl! This year's black calf is the lightest red-brown I've ever seen one turn. If I didn't know better, I'd swear he was going to be red or dun.

[littlecowfl]

Thanks, guys! She grew up to be a sweet cow.