Why some cattle exhibit a particular color continues to be the great question stumping researchers.
Nobody knows in breeds like Charolais why red cattle periodically show up in the genetic mix, said a University of Saskatchewan geneticist.
Scientists know that the red in Red Angus is caused by a single gene mutation and they can test for red or black color. The other breeds remain a mystery.
“It is not entirely clear why a Charolais is white in the first place,” said Sheila Schumtz.
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Part of her research team’s work involves tracking color. Continental breeds in Canada were built up breeding British cows like Angus or Hereford to the new bulls from Europe. Over a number of generations, the offspring were eventually classified as purebred.
These breeding up programs may be responsible for the color variants but no one can say for sure, said Schumtz.
“In this country because our purebreds represent an amalgamation of many backgrounds it’s going to be harder to sift through how that would happen,” she said.
Red factors don’t show up in Full French Charolais, which have always been white as long as records have been kept
“It is a Charolais as far back as they can trace it,” she said.
