Posted by Duncan MacIntyre on February 06, 2004 at 00:34:09:
I will try here to reproduce the article by Morna Arkle in the Bulletin No 111 dated August 1989. The Bulletin in these days was produced by David Key and family on typewriter etc so I cannot be sure that I will be able to repeat the layout as it originally appeared but I will do my best.
BEGINNERS GUIDE TO BREEDING BULLDOGS
Well, breeding Dexter bulldog calves actually: or not doing so.
As a general rule there are Dexter cattle of two types, those that produce calves that grow up to be the smae size as both parents, and those that grow up either taller or shorter than either or both parents.
Why?
Its all in the genes that are part of the chromosomes that form the kind of cells that form the parts of the body that makes the creature.
Many of us have heard of genes and chromosomes but do not know much about them. Some breeders think that they know a great deal about them.
How does it all work?
Alright, relax I am not starting a dissertation on DNA (saves me checking the spelling)
Gametes. Alleles, Modifiers and anything the cat brought home.
So let us start with the parents. A bull and a cow produce a calf made of mixed up bits and pieces that look and behave half like dad and half like mum. Because they ARE half dad and half mum. The bull ejaculates thousands and thouasands of spermatozoa. ONE of which swims into the cow's egg to make the new calf. The sperm and egg each contain half of the matched pairs of chromosomes apart from the sex one to form one individual since half + half = one.
Help! Matched pairs of chromosomes? What are they?
Start again, its all in the genes. Broadly speaking genes carry the characteristics of the parent. Lots of genes on a chromosome. Imagine putting one sweet out of every bowl of a Pick and Mix selection in a bag. Repeat with another bag. The sweets are the genes, the bag is the chromosome. Tip out both bags in parallel lines, the sweets are similar, the order may be very different - OK you clever clogs, this is an illustration not accurate statement.
So now we have similar components, genes, from two bags, chromosomes; not absolute replicas but some repitition, and some results quite surprisingly different if you forgot what popped into one of the bags. And sometimes the same sweet may be in a different colour paper or no paper or two papers. But the sweets inside are still the same. Think of PPP - Pick up a Penguin - same buiscuit, three colours. Ancient celtic cattle were mostly black and dun with a few patterned or red and white. A little while ago it was fashionable to choose the sweets in black paper and throw away the dun papers. Red papers were possibly always in short supply.
Back to genes. There are genes for the longer legged and shorter legged Dexters and for those that stay the same shape. No, I don't think genes for Kerry or Dexter because the blood type for Kerry differs from that for Dexter so Dexters are unlikely to be Kerry crosses.
Now down to basics, some people like long legs because they prefer the shape of scaled down other cattle or they look more like older pictures or they are easier to get underneath to milk, or the cows don't bang their udders on obstacles or they don't like risking bulldog calves or any other reason. Others like short legged because they are from prizewinning families, or they are used to the shape, or THINK they will be smaller. But they might not be. And others prefer the replicating type to ensure an even looking herd.
Another try for the basics for long and short legs.
l means gene for short leg
L means gene for long leg.
Pairs can be
ll = bulldog
lL = short
Ll = short
LL = long
4 calves from lL mated with Ll can give
lL = bulldog dead
lL = short and long
Ll = long and short
LL = long which they carry for the future.
4 calves from LL mated with LL can give
LL = long
LL = long
LL = long
LL = long which they carry for the future
4 calves from lL mated with LL can give
lL = short
lL = short looking long
LL = long looking long
LL long looking short which they carry for the future.
Some exprts will say this is too simple. Yes, it is. This is the Beginners Guide and I think short or long legged is a silly description anyway.
Now what is a bulldog calf? A deformity that is due to certain combinations of genes from the cow and bull. In the wild it would tend to vanish because it is lethal to the calf but in domestication its possibilty persists because people like its parents. The bulldog calf comes because of the short legged linkage to dwarf characteristics of large head, short neck, large body, barrel ribs, short limbs.
Linkage? OO-er Some genes are close on the chromosome, like two papers in one envelope, and when the chromosomes twist about and rejoin for the new creature they tend to stick together, such as fair hair and blue eyes in humans.
Bulldog calves for those of you who have not seen them have double dwarf characteristics, so the nose is so short that the nostrils are close to the eyes, the large head becomes round, the short neck vanishes, the big body and barrel ribs become round and the short limbs make it look like a badly blown up animal balloon. It has cartilage instead of bone and cannot live. So it is a waste of money, waste of a year in your breeding programme and the cows inside may be so upset her future breeding programme goes to pieces and that certainly is waste.
It has been practice for some years to mate short to long legged cows or bulls. Thats it then. Avoid it yes, eliminate it no. But that is another story.
So your Beginners Guide for Breeding Bulldogs says mate short to short legged and in time you will get them
Right-ho then. Now you can start arguing again.
Morna Arkle, Bryn-y-Pyn.
I have put this here in memory of Morna, and hope that its presence will be treated respectfully. There is much sense in it, much truth, and a genuine attempt to describe a condition which has only in recent years of genetic research been solved.
We remember Morna as a friend of Dexters and those she met through them.