Colour Change

[paul c]

I am looking for advise please as I am new to dexter breeding,
I have four new calves born March/April this year all black, now there coats seem to be changing colour to brown, also some of the older ones seem to be changing aswell.
Is this common or should I be concerned, could It be some dietry deficiency, your help would be appreciated
Paul

[Duncan MacIntyre]

In Dexters there is often a "fading" or red tinge on the longer hair in summer, just due to sunlight. Sometimes it can look almost Dun and some people think this depends on whether or not the animal is carrying red or dun genes, I am not entirely sure myself. But the red tinge is much more common than any colour loss due to copper deficiency. Some areas of the country are more prone to copper deficiency than others, and some soil types have levels of other elements such as molybdenum which interfere with copper uptake. Usually if cattle are getting any significant quantity of compound feed their copper intake is ok. Some mineral licks, such as I have out with mine just now for the magnesium, also have copper.

Very young calves sometimes can look almost red or dun on the surface, but if you look at the coat close to skin such as on legs and muzzle, the black is there, and they will alway end up black. The late Morna Arkle, a great stalwart of the Dexter breed, always used to say that there were 7 colours of black in Dexters.

Duncan

[Louisa Gidney]

I agree, my "black" calves go through a phase of having a brown "baby coat". This grows out into black again, often starting round the eyes, giving a panda effect.

[Broomcroft]

Ditto - I've got about 15 black calves at the moment and apart from one jet black, they're all as you say.

[paul c]

Thanks for putting my mind at rest, I am sure the hot and sunny April had something to do with it. lets hope for some decent rain now to make the grass grow.
Paul