SAS Sweetmeat & BMR Explorer

[kfacres]

It's a recessive trait and works like horned/polled and red/black. For it to show up in the phenotype both parents must pass on the recessive allele.

does anyone know if this is also seen in other breeds- say shorthorns, maines or holsteins?  There are some pretty spotted up shorthorns around, and I don't know if they could be called roan, or what? 

 

[leanbeef]

Built Right is a spotter...Found that out the hard way. Does anyone have a list of the bulls that are Spotters? Is that something I could find on the Simmental Website?

I don't know of a list anywhere. The association asks for color when calves are reported, but only for black, red, gray or yellow. There is no documentation at that level in regards to color PATTERN or spots. I think trying to do that would also beg the definition of "spots"...what some breeders might call "spotted" may be different from others. Bulls that were used extensively in AI are known for spotting or non-spotting...like Lucky Dice and his full brother Lucky Strike...both spot gene carriers. Lucky Man...another bull that goes back to Lucky Buck who was the sire of Lucky Dice and Lucky Strike...also a spotter. My theory is that any bull with a white face, white feet, white belly or white tail is under suspicion as a spot carrier, just because there seems to be some link to the spot gene and the expression of white, even like a blazed face or sock feet. If you're looking at solid black bulls, beware of the white sheath or white scrotum...the more white on the underline, the better the chances it's connected to a spotting gene. But I do think it's possible to have some expression of a very small amount of white, say on the navel, maybe the udder, hopefully the nose or face!...that may not necessarily indict an animal as a spot gene carrier. Maybe...

The best way to know is to ask the bull stud. They'll know if there are calves out of a bull, and it's a recessive gene, so if both parents are non spotters, then you don't have anything to worry about. The tricky part are dams that are not that many generations removed from traditionally marked cattle and can still carry spotting genes. And with the new emergence of the baldy cattle, I think we'll start seeing more spots again. Just a hunch...