The Blue Dare Milking Cow

Lacking the vast open plains of endless prairie grass, the farmers of the Tendertooth Hills in east Sayinia needed a hardy and more compact breed of cattle. The goat has always been popular as an efficient dairy animal and a poor man's cow, but the cultural image of cattle defining a sucessful landman was too strong, and they began to import and select for specimens that could fill this niche.
The most successful breed they found was the Devon, an island breed brought early to the continent. Their compact size and efficient use of forage made them excellent grazers in the foothills. The breed is known for its milk production, and the earnest farms flourished.

Color

The only problem with the Devon cow was its color. The breed is affectionately known as Red Rubies in its native lands, for its universally red color, with creamy white horns darkening to black tips. The color red is generally disfavored in eastern Sayinia, however, being associated with ill fortune or, in many folktales, with demons from beyond the mountains.
Rather than the success and prosperity of the Devon weakening the cultural association with their color, as one might expect, the farmers chose to alter the cow to something more acceptable. Red, being recessive, tends to breed true, but they brought in breeding stock with dominant black coats. As predicted, the offspring fell black, and because of the dominant black characteristic, they were able to breed back to Devon stock immediately and keep the new, preferred color.
Some of the imported stock carried dilute color, however, and soon their newly black breed was also producing dilute black calves. These did not breed over the black coat, of course, but they persisted in the lines, and today the new breed is known by this less common coat color, though the true black remains more common. Reds of course are still in the line and do appear, and these animals are considered of lesser value even if they still exhibit the other qualities for which the breed is prized.

Cattle colors

This is what farmers may expect in their cattle breeding.


Code:
BB: homozygous black
Bb: heterozygous black (carries recessive red)
bb: red
DD: dominant coloring
Dd: carries dilute gene
dd: dilute

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	BB	Bb	bb	DD	Dd	dd
BB	black	black	black	black	black	black
Bb	black	25% red	50% red	black	25% fawn	50% fawn
bb	black	50% red	red	black	50% red, 50% fawn	fawn
DD	black	black	black	black	25% blue	25% blue
Dd	black	25% fawn	50% red, 50% fawn	black	50% blue	25% blue
dd	black	50% fawn	fawn	25% blue	25% blue	blue

Basic Information

Anatomy

This is a compact breed with a straight topline and medium-thick hair. The coat is often long and curly during the winter but is short and sleek in summer. They calve easily and are good mothers.

Additional Information

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Primarily milking, some beef, can also be trained as oxen. Leather.

Lifespan

15 years

Average Weight

1100-1700 pounds

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Most famously, steely-grey (blue) coloring, occasionally with white markings.
More commonly, black. Red coats are also seen, though not preferred.