shortyjock89
Well-known member
Diamond said:
That's different though..the Highlander's grow that much hair because they are accustomed to really cold temps..but I agree, there are probably other factors involved..
Hair Growth
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That's different though..the Highlander's grow that much hair because they are accustomed to really cold temps..but I agree, there are probably other factors involved..
cattlejunky
Well-known member
I don't think they are saying hairy automatically means infertile. Just like humans some cattle will be more suseptible to different conditions either from environment or genetics. Women with high testosterone will have more hair growth (sometimes in unwanted areas). Insulin resitants means your body does not process insulin correctly and you end up storing more fat. Heifers that store more fat are said to be harder to breed, again I think that is case specific. I definately buy into what the textbook is saying. I do not think you should place a hairy heifer at the bottom of the class just because she has hair. 
knabe
Well-known member
i've actually seen highlanders in scotland in the fields of ferns. their hair gets all covered with moss. perhaps the moss sticks better with the rough hair. supposedly it does good at repelling insects, similar to dirt, which makes it more difficult for short beaked insects to get at the skin, which probably selects over time for longer beeked insects, which selects for cows that have longer hair that can hold more mud, on and on. it's really amazing, with enough selective pressure, how easy it is to change in a few generations. i wonder what we would do to wildebeasts, if they became profitable to raise. i've never seen a more funnel butted, sloped rumped, light boned, lack of meat, big headed, big fronted bovine in my life. i wonder if there are any polled ones. there are now tuskless elephants as the pressure on killing ones with tusks is too great. man, always taking too much of the cream.
showsteerdlux
Well-known member
Like I said if the hair is the result of genetics and hard work there is no reason to place her down. But if she is obviously fat that would make me question if the hair was because of insulin rejection. What im saying is the cattle that are fed to heavy and have hair as a result as the ones that could maybe be unfertile.cattlejunky said:I don't think they are saying hairy automatically means infertile. Just like humans some cattle will be more suseptible to different conditions either from environment or genetics. Women with high testosterone will have more hair growth (sometimes in unwanted areas). Insulin resitants means your body does not process insulin correctly and you end up storing more fat. Heifers that store more fat are said to be harder to breed, again I think that is case specific. I definately buy into what the textbook is saying. I do not think you should place a hairy heifer at the bottom of the class just because she has hair.
shorthorns r us
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knabe said:
that's a new one for me!
showsteerdlux
Well-known member
Maybe some of the pasture ones do but the ones that are shown look pretty durn good imo. There are some people that show them about 20 minutes from me and their whole barn is air conditioned, cattle washed twice daily, all the extras. They are serious about it and their cattle look good from what Ive been told.BCCC said:Highlanders do have a lot of hair, but it crappy hair, it is very thick and course. Any bull promoter that says the bull has hair like a highlander, isn't doing himself any good to the people who have actually felt highlander hair. it is like homeless guy hair, but way thicker, and about as gross ;D ;D ;D
maybe I dont understand this but
knabe
Well-known member
SRU said:
from wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant
The harvest of elephants, both legal and illegal, has had some unexpected consequences on elephant anatomy as well. African ivory hunters, by killing only tusked elephants, have given a much larger chance of mating to elephants with small tusks or no tusks at all. The propagation of the absent-tusk gene has resulted in the birth of large numbers of tuskless elephants, now approaching 30% in some populations (compare with a rate of about 1% in 1930). Tusklessness, once a very rare genetic abnormality, has become a widespread hereditary trait.
saw this in print some 30 years ago as kind of a novelty. tuskless elephants, selecting for beta males
cattlejunky
Well-known member
showsteerdlux said:Like I said if the hair is the result of genetics and hard work there is no reason to place her down. But if she is obviously fat that would make me question if the hair was because of insulin rejection. What im saying is the cattle that are fed to heavy and have hair as a result as the ones that could maybe be unfertile.cattlejunky said:I don't think they are saying hairy automatically means infertile. Just like humans some cattle will be more suseptible to different conditions either from environment or genetics. Women with high testosterone will have more hair growth (sometimes in unwanted areas). Insulin resitants means your body does not process insulin correctly and you end up storing more fat. Heifers that store more fat are said to be harder to breed, again I think that is case specific. I definately buy into what the textbook is saying. I do not think you should place a hairy heifer at the bottom of the class just because she has hair.
I agree with you.
Rocky Hill Simmental
Well-known member
cattlejunky said:showsteerdlux said:Like I said if the hair is the result of genetics and hard work there is no reason to place her down. But if she is obviously fat that would make me question if the hair was because of insulin rejection. What im saying is the cattle that are fed to heavy and have hair as a result as the ones that could maybe be unfertile.cattlejunky said:I don't think they are saying hairy automatically means infertile. Just like humans some cattle will be more suseptible to different conditions either from environment or genetics. Women with high testosterone will have more hair growth (sometimes in unwanted areas). Insulin resitants means your body does not process insulin correctly and you end up storing more fat. Heifers that store more fat are said to be harder to breed, again I think that is case specific. I definately buy into what the textbook is saying. I do not think you should place a hairy heifer at the bottom of the class just because she has hair.
I agree with you.
I had a heifer place low in a class because she had too much hair. It was not the icky red hair either, she was solid black, not a spot of red on her. The judge said he thought her hair was too long but other than that she was a well built heifer. The breeder said she takes after her mama because her mama was from Nebraska. It's the softest, most tamable hair I ever had on a heifer. Only one judge ever said anything about the hair, nobody else had a problem with it. All the other judges placed her 1st or 2nd in her class. Just one judge didn't like her.
They do the same thing in the FFA livestock judging competion. Personaly, I forget they don't like it. I did better at judging hogs and bulls.
