Glen & Karen Hastie
960 Wildwood Road
Sunbury
Victoria
Australia 3429
Phone (03) 9740 9010
Fax (03) 9744 9010
hasties@bairnsley.com
COAT COLOUR
Highlands come in various colours, which adds some interest when breeding. Although a good animal has nothing to do with the colour of the hair, different breeders still have preferences for certain colours. There are six colours that can be registered in the Herd Book of the Australian Highland Cattle Society. There are however a number of shades of these colours that can vary with hair coat length and so time of year, and the genetic make-up of the animal.
The six basic colours that can be registered in Australia:
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Coat colour links, photos and articles:
Variations of these colours:
This article discusses a number of variations of these colours and different
shades. Whatever colour they are, they all need to be
categorised under the above six groups to be registered in the Australian
Highland Cattle Society Herdbook however.
Anomalies in Highland
Coat Colour
This page covers some of the more unusual coat colour patterns that are not
fully accounted for in the colours allowed in the herdbook. Some of these are
accepted and others are not. Either way they are interesting and many breeders
ask of them.
Calf Colours:
Just when you thought you had a fair understanding of Highland coat colours, you
also need to realise that a number of calves are born different shades or
sometimes quite different colours to what they end up being as adults. (see also
'Mahogany Coat Colour Changes' and 'Black
Coat Colour Changes')
History of Highland Colour Preferences:
This is a brief discussion of how this has changes
over the years. We have bred out, and bred in, certain coat colours in Highlands,
because of perceived benefits to certain colours and sometimes just because of
fads. For example, around 200 years ago by far the most common colour was black,
but this is actually a rare colour amongst Highlands today. Now red is by far
the most common and recognised colour.
The Genetics of Coat Colour in Highland
Cattle:
In recent years some specific research has become become available to us to help
us understand some of the reasons for the colours that crop up when we cross
certain animals together. There is actually some predictability to what seems
like random events of colour combinations. In fact, every cross would be totally
predictable, if only we knew all of these genes that control coat colour in
Highlands. This is far too complex at the moment but we certainly understand a
lot more now than we did.
References:
1) Cattle Coat Colour Genetics (in depth discussion
of genetics involved here.) Sheila Schmutz, University of Saskatchewan, Canada.
The current state of what has been proven by DNA
analysis.
(http://homepage.usask.ca/~schmutz/colors.html)
