Do Blondes have calving difficulty? How large are the calves?
Blondes are typically easy calvers. A number of calf characteristics contribute to easier passage thru the birth canal: (1) the calf’s birth weight is spread over a much longer body, (2) a finer bone structure, (3) light muscling at birth, (4) smooth shoulders, and (5) a small triangular head. Cow characteristics, such as width of the pelvis and an inherited hooks-to-pins slope of the rump, also contribute to calving ease. Tests have shown up to 98% unassisted calving from Fullblood Blonde cows. There are many breeders using Blonde bulls on crossbred cows who find that they have far fewer calving problems than with any breed previously tried. Fullblood Blonde calves have averaged 79 pounds at birth and our Fullblood Blonde bull calves averaged 85 pounds. When Blondes are crossed with other breeds, birth weight will be influenced by the genetics of the other breed as well as the Blonde. It should be noted that calving ease is much more a management problem than a heritable genetic trait
