Rat Tails...

[Telos]

Have seen a good percentage of rat tail (short tails) show calves, out of popular genetics, in this years calf crop. Can some enlighten us as to what is going on genetically? I thought this was primarily in some Charolais genetics. Is Grizzly Bear, Ready to Rumble, etc. carriers, or is it coming from the cow side?

 

[aj]

I was thinking it came from Black Angus breeding. Red Angus was thought to be clean. Rat tails were a problem in black Simmental also I thought.

 

[Boot Jack Bulls]

I think most of those calves have short tails because of cold weather or injury. Of all of them in online fall sales from northern breeders, I haven't seen any that show rat tail characteristics. They usually have little to no hair on their bodies and are considered very hard doing animals that don't grow and preform like their counterparts.

BTW there is a similar mutation in sorrel Quarter Horses that can occur and has been traced back to Poco Bueno.

 

[shortyjock89]

I think most of those calves have short tails because of cold weather or injury. Of all of them in online fall sales from northern breeders, I haven't seen any that show rat tail characteristics. They usually have little to no hair on their bodies and are considered very hard doing animals that don't grow and preform like their counterparts.

BTW there is a similar mutation in sorrel Quarter Horses that can occur and has been traced back to Poco Bueno.

Yep, this is probably the correct answer.  I think some southern folks can seriously underestimate how cold it was up north this past year.  Even in Illinois, we never got above 0 for the better part of a month.  A couple of our herfs born in february have shortened tails and even one case of mild frostbitten ears. 

 

[Telos]

Not genetic. Thanks for clarifying. Was looking at several super looking calves but not much tail hair. A good reminder how cold the weather was.

 

[leanbeef]

Rat tails will be smoke colored and are usually Simmental cross, although there may be other breeds that carry the rat tail gene. It ONLY shows up in diluted black cattle, and the cattle often have wiry or almost curly hair on their body, but it isn't as thick as normal. They aren't "hairless" but the tail will have very short hair with little to no switch.

There may be other reasons a calf has a short tail or no switch, but the rest of the body or tail will appear normal. Any animal that is black or red will not be "rat tail" and not necessarily ALL smokes are rat tails. Once you've seen one, you'll know em.

Some feeders claim these cattle don't have enough hair to stand the bitter cold of northern or western winters in the feedlot, but these cattle are necessarily poor performers! They are often just as good as any other calves, and in southern climates, there is NO difference in performance due to this characteristic.

 

[SeannyT]

Not genetic. Thanks for clarifying. Was looking at several super looking calves but not much tail hair. A good reminder how cold the weather was.

Actually it is very much a genetic condition. However, I do think that a lot of the cases seen are likely either stepped on tails, as previously mentioned, or else caused by a type of mite that can cause hair loss from the switch.

Anyways, there is a great article from the Journal of Animal Science two years ago that discusses "rat tail" syndrome: 'Inheritance of the "rat-tail" syndrome and its effect on calf performance'. A quick google search will lead to a fee copy of the article.

 

[tamarack]

What I know about rat tail we would occasionally get one when we crossed black Angus with charlois cattle either way char bull angus cow or angus bull char cow the calves would be short haired with rat tail. Not to be confused with just a short tail they look overall different and get docked as they take longer to finish

 

[Freddy]

THE TRUE RATTAIL IS GENETIC and for year's have been a problem of SIMMI ....Have raised Charolais over 50 years and had never any problem unless some SIMMI was in the mix ...Helped a commercial guy raise quite a few SIMMI'S 30 year's ago and rattails were a problem with what looked like ANGUS
cows .....In the clubby business HEAT WAVE showed most problems with it, son's seemed to show less . ALSO what you call a rattail has many different
definitions, shouldn't be any confusion with a frozen or damaged tail with a true  rattail .  Some of the HEAT WAVE son's calves will not have a lot of bush but with age will look just fine .....Lot of confusion with definition of rattail, there is also a tail lice that can damage switch .... 

 

[Bulldaddy]

Rat tails will be smoke colored and are usually Simmental cross, although there may be other breeds that carry the rat tail gene. It ONLY shows up in diluted black cattle, and the cattle often have wiry or almost curly hair on their body, but it isn't as thick as normal. They aren't "hairless" but the tail will have very short hair with little to no switch.

There may be other reasons a calf has a short tail or no switch, but the rest of the body or tail will appear normal. Any animal that is black or red will not be "rat tail" and not necessarily ALL smokes are rat tails. Once you've seen one, you'll know em.

Some feeders claim these cattle don't have enough hair to stand the bitter cold of northern or western winters in the feedlot, but these cattle are necessarily poor performers! They are often just as good as any other calves, and in southern climates, there is NO difference in performance due to this characteristic.

This is a very good description of the "rat tail syndrome" expect where you say "ALL smokes are rat tails." Are you sure about that?  Did you mean "ALL rat tails are smokes?" I have some smokes in my herd that are definitely NOT rat tails.

 

[doc-sun]

Rat tails will be smoke colored and are usually Simmental cross, although there may be other breeds that carry the rat tail gene. It ONLY shows up in diluted black cattle, and the cattle often have wiry or almost curly hair on their body, but it isn't as thick as normal. They aren't "hairless" but the tail will have very short hair with little to no switch.

There may be other reasons a calf has a short tail or no switch, but the rest of the body or tail will appear normal. Any animal that is black or red will not be "rat tail" and not necessarily ALL smokes are rat tails. Once you've seen one, you'll know em.

Some feeders claim these cattle don't have enough hair to stand the bitter cold of northern or western winters in the feedlot, but these cattle are necessarily poor performers! They are often just as good as any other calves, and in southern climates, there is NO difference in performance due to this characteristic.

This is a very good description of the "rat tail syndrome" expect where you say "ALL smokes are rat tails." Are you sure about that?  Did you mean "ALL rat tails are smokes?" I have some smokes in my herd that are definitely NOT rat tails.

depends on how the diluted gene from simmies and chars hook up with the black gene in angus and other breeds that are now black