I have recently noticed that one of my black heifers has developed a sprinkling of white hairs along her back, and I was wondering if this is usual? She is 4 years old and has been shown previously but this may now halt her showing career. Reading the breed standards it seems to be a large area of white in certain places is frowned upon. Has anyone else had a dexter that has started showing white hairs? Is it likely she has passed this onto her offspring also?
We've got a line with white hairs in the black coat and it has been passed down in the progeny every time. They are one of our best beef lines which I doubt has anything to do with the white hairs, just mentioned it.
My foundation cow had a few white hairs in her coat too, so it crops up throughout her descendants. In the days when I did a lot of showing, I never had a judge put an animal down for that reason.
Black cows carryng dun occasionally have white ticking in their coats but usually all through the body coat, not enough to give a roan or grey look, just ticking.
Margaret