Unique Red and While Holstein Joins Stud
CANADA - A red and white full brother to the top two show heifers in Britain has been launched for sale by Dairy Daughters, bringing high type and a deep cow family together for red and white dairy breeders.
13 May 2013
2 minute read
Panda Redfactor Red is the only red and white son of Golden-Oaks ST Alexander in the world, and is out of top Canadian brood cow, Stoneden Fools Gold Red.
As a carrier of the rare ‘variant red’ gene (and not the more common red recessive gene), around half of the bull’s progeny will be red and white. This is irrespective of whether he is bred to a black and white or red and white cow.
“Variant red is dominant over black and white, so if an animal inherits the gene from just one parent it will be coloured red,” explains Molly Westwood, who bred the bull from an imported embryo on her family farm in Exmoor and also works for Dairy Daughters, the company through which he is marketed.
Molly chose to bring embryos from these particular bloodlines back from Canada after working for several years for the renowned Morsan herd in Alberta in which she was keen to invest.
“The cow I selected for the flush was Stoneden Fools Gold Red as she was a personal favourite and one of the best red cows I have worked with,” she explains. “And I chose Alexander as the bull for the matings as I'd seen so many outstanding progeny across Canada and he really stood out at the time.”
The resulting flush produced five embryos and five progeny including Redfactor himself and the two heifer calves, Panda Alexa Fools Gold and Panda Allyander Fools Gold, which were unrivalled stars of the Holstein show circuit throughout 2012.
Amongst their many victories were the championship at the National All Breeds All Britain Calf Show for Alexa and a first prize at the National Holstein Show for Allyander.
“We are exceptionally lucky to have a bull with these prospects to add to our portfolio,” says Alison Dunphy, sales manager for Dairy Daughters. “And we know that his rare ‘variant red’ bloodlines will be a huge attraction to breeders who are aiming to develop a red and white Holstein component to their herd.
“Since we are also offering him as sexed semen, breeders can increase their red and white heifer numbers twice as fast as if he were simply available as a conventional bull,” she says. “The fact that they can potentially do this without even having a red and white cow in their herd is an unusual added bonus.”
Highlights of Panda Redfactor Red’s genomic Predicted Transmitting Ability include a +30.9kg fat, outstanding legs and feet, locomotion of +2.44 and good daughter fertility.
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