Dun cows

jem · Post by **jem** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 1:59 pm

Having seen several Dun coloured Dexters in pictures and in the flesh, it seems to me that they always seem to have a longer coat, almost as if they do not fully lose their winter coats. Is this the case?

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 10:59 pm

I wonder how much of your observation, which I would broadly agree with, is because the Dun is much less uniform, much less of a "self colour" than most blacks or reds appear to be. In some cases I suspect that not only does the dun colour vary with the season, but that dun hairs may have some variation in shade along their length, making the coat look longer and shaggier. Not all reds and blacks are as uniform as they look - if you look carefully at some blacks you can see stripes as you would in a brindle. The late Morna Arkle used to say that there were five colours of black in Dexters. Some blacks show red or dun tips on hair, sometimes wrongly assumed to be a sign of copper deficiency. I have wondered if the red shading occurs in blacks carrying red, and dun in black carrying dun, but then what happens if they carry both red and dun, as do offspring of one red and one dun parent?
In reds I think most of us prefer a rich uniform red, but they are not all like that, some have darker areas especially around the head and neck.

Many of you will have realised by now that I don't have an answer to Jem's question.

Duncan

Saffy · Post by **Saffy** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 8:35 am

I only have two dun cows. They do lose the winter coat and have the short summer sheen but seem to gain a partial winter coat again quite early on, both are slightly shaggy again already and the one has a very coarse coat as soon as there is any length to it.

Stephanie

wagra dexters · Post by **wagra dexters** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 9:12 am

A faint red glow does seem to show through in blacks with a red gene. They don't seem to be quite as inky black as black/blacks.
Copper deficiency does show through also, mainly around the flanks and legs, and is obvious to those of us who need to supplement. It is quite different to the red glow in a recessive.
Duns with long scraggly coats look much more untidy than blacks or reds with long scraggly coats, maybe because the sun-bleached outer coat of the dun appears to bleach more extremely compared to the under-coat than it does in the other two colours.
Margaret

Edited By wagra dexters on 1253693685