I have also had calves this color from white cows. Oftentimes, the calf will have a few white hairs in their tail , which "officially" makes them a roan genetically even though more people would call them red. When we displayed IDS Duke of Dublin at Denver, shortly after we inported him from Ireland, an old Shorthorn breeder stopped to look at him. Duke was a red bull with one white mark visible and it was just behind his shoulder. This breeder lifted his tail and on the back side of his tail, there was also a small white mark. He told me that Duke would sire white calves as he was really a roan bull. I was very skeptical as this bull was a deep cherry red other than the two small white marks. One month later, the first Duke calves were born...... and the third calf born was white, from a dark roan cow.
We also imported a white cow from Ireland and her first calf would be considered solid red by most anyone. He was sired by Deerpark Improver and he was solid red with only a very few white hairs in his tail.
