Hereditary parakeratosis in shorthorn beef calves

Parakeratosis was diagnosed in 9 Shorthorn beef calves over a 4-year period. When pedigrees of these calves were analyzed, familial associations were strong. Thirty-six coefficients of relationship among all possible combinations of the 9 affected calves ranged from 0.5 to 39.8% and averaged 15.6%. All affected calves were descendants of bull A. Of 9 affected calves, 6 had bull A in their paternal and maternal pedigrees. The 3 remaining affected calves had bull A in their sire's pedigree and were born to 2 full-sib dams. Seemingly, parakeratosis in this Shorthorn herd was hereditary with the mode of inheritance being that of a simple autosomal recessive.