Dark Pigment
"Dark Pigment" is a term that's used across all types of livestock, both breeding and market, but is most frequently applied to sheep, goats, and Brahman and Hereford cattle. It doesn't simply refer to the color of the animal's coat.
It's like evaluating the shades of a painting: you don't just look at the main color, you consider the nuances. To accurately describe an animal as 'dark pigmented', they need to have a dark vulva/anus, nose, and in the case of cattle, the area around their eyes should be dark too.
For instance, a paint goat might have the darkest coat in her class, but if her vulva is light-colored or pink, she wouldn't be described as 'dark pigmented'. In Hereford cattle, the pigmentation, especially around the eyes, is particularly important due to the breed's susceptibility to eye cancer, thus darker pigmentation is preferred. So, 'dark pigment' refers to the darker coloration of certain key body areas in an animal, and not just their overall coat color.
It's like evaluating the shades of a painting: you don't just look at the main color, you consider the nuances. To accurately describe an animal as 'dark pigmented', they need to have a dark vulva/anus, nose, and in the case of cattle, the area around their eyes should be dark too.
For instance, a paint goat might have the darkest coat in her class, but if her vulva is light-colored or pink, she wouldn't be described as 'dark pigmented'. In Hereford cattle, the pigmentation, especially around the eyes, is particularly important due to the breed's susceptibility to eye cancer, thus darker pigmentation is preferred. So, 'dark pigment' refers to the darker coloration of certain key body areas in an animal, and not just their overall coat color.
Questions that use this term.
Who is the dark pigmented bull?
Species Distribution of Term
Distribution of the types of classes in our database this term is used in.