PINK NOSE?CAN ANYONE HELP WITH THIS COLOR EXPLANATION PLEASE

[stockpro]

SO I AM CONFUSED WITH THE DETERMINATION OF OFFSPRINGS COLOR.... PLEASE HELP

ON MY BLACK CLUBBY COWS IF I WANT YELLOW AND SILVER CALVES DO I HAVE TO BREED TO A PUREBRED CHAROLAIS BULL?ALOT OF THE COLORED BULLS NOW STILL THROW BLACK CALVES.....

IF A COLORED BULL HAS A PINK NOSE OR A COW DOES , DOES THAT MEAN EVEN IF THEY ARENT A PUREBRED THAT THEIR OFFSPRING WILL BE COLORED?
THANKS

 

[stockpro]

I UNDERSTAND THIS MIGHT NOT BE A PRIORITY OF THE MESSAGES ON THIS BOARD BUT I AM ASKING FOR AS MUCH INSIGHT AS I CAN POSSIBLY GET...I AM JUST A YOUNG GUY TRYING TO GET STARTED...SOMEONE PLEASE ENLIGHTEN ME ON THIS SUBJECT BECAUSE I AM TRYING TO GET COWS READY TO BREED..THANKS IN ADVANCE

 

[Bulldaddy]

If you want smoke colored calves out of those black cows every time then you should use a bull with a pink nose.  It can be a purebred Char or a Char cross but the nose needs to be pink.  If you use a smoke bull with a dark gray nose then you will get both smokes and blacks out of the mating.

The gray nose on a cow or bull indicates that they have at least one gene for black.  the reason it is gray and not black is that they have they have another  gene, the gene for color dilution, which causes black to be gray and red to be yellow.  All purebred Charolais bulls are homozygous for the gene for color dilution and will always sire gray calves when bred to homozygous black cows and both gray and yellow calves when bred to heterozygous black cows. 

 

[Mark H]

The correct response is that you want a bull that is homozygous for the dilution gene.  Fortunately the vast majority of purebred Charolais are homzygous for the dilution gene.  However having a pink nose is no indicator that an animal is a homozygous diluter.  The vast majority of red factor Charolais whether they are heterozygous for the diluter gene or homozygous for the non diluter gene at this locus have pink or light brown noses (normal).  The grey nose only comes when crossed with an Angus, Holstein, Galloway or Welsh Black.
If you do not have the diluter gene present in a calf then you can get red or black calves depending on the cows she is used on.  You also can get roans if used on Shorthorn cows.
In Alberta Charolais come mostly white bit also in red and even black.  Take a look at the Alberta Select sale catalog to see thus variation: http://issuu.com/pdrneepawa/docs/ab_select_catalogue2014?e=2717029/9787605

 

[RyanChandler]

Great point- " having a pink nose is no indicator that an animal is a homozygous diluter "



How can they be referred to as "red factor Chars" if they express the diluter?

I guess a better question is:

W/ the exception of the 'new' purebred black chars  , aren't all red factor chars homozygous for the non diluter?  It's my understanding that this is the distinguishing factor which makes them 'red factor' ? 

 

[Mark H]

XBAR,

The tan or dark cream colored cattle are heterozygous for the non diluter allele.  The diluter is not completely dominate and you will likely see some color in heterozygotes.  A homozygous non diluter is ether red or black.  With out the diluter allele being present all Charolais would be dark red instead of buckskin or tan.
The black Charolais have to be homozygous for the non diluter gene or they would be silver or gray.
A good dark red bull is HEJ Ripper: http://www.buyagro.com/hej/66p.htm
For tan bulls Wells has a few herd sires: http://www.wellscharolaisranch.com/herd-sires.html