Early this fall the American Angus Association alerted its membership by letter and through its web site (www.angus.org) of the existence of what appears to be a lethal genetic defect called Curly Calf Syndrome. Affected calves are born dead with a twisted spine and extended and contracted limbs. Early investigations lead researchers believe this to be a simple recessive gene tentatively tracing to GAR Precision 1680 (11520398).

Researchers continue to work toward nailing down the facts on this issue, isolating the gene involved, and developing a test to confirm or clear potential carriers. If we assume that this is a simple recessive gene with “1680” as the only source, breeders can avoid having a curly calf by not line breeding any cattle with “1680” in the pedigree. The following is a partial list of some of our prominent bulls containing GAR Precision 1680 along with the percentage chance that they might be a carrier of the curly calf gene based on what we know so far. When mated to a “clean” individual, the chance that these sires might sire a curly calf is 0 and the chance of them siring a carrier of the curly calf gene is half of their own percentage chance of being a carrier.