Shades of Dun

I've had a lot of people ask about the white looking Dexter calves on the cover of The Record. The dun color ranges from blonde to dark brown. Paler duns become more sun bleached during the summer and in certain light may appear almost white. Here's the same photo as the cover from a different angle with the calf's dams upper left:


Just to further confuse the issue of color, two early Dexter references report the color as "roan" rather than "dun":

"The color is variable, and may be black, red or roan." Page 380 of "Cyclopedia of American agriculture: a popular survey of agricultural conditions, practices and ideals in the United States and Canada: Volume III. Animals 1907-1909" by L. H. Bailey, 1858-1954.

"Dexter-Kerries are either black, red, or roan in colour, without a light dorsal streak;" page 96 of "The ox and its kindred" by Richard Lydekker, published in 1912.