Breeds of Cattle

Beef Breeds

Common Beef Breeds:

HerefordAngusShorthornSouth Devon

Hereford White face red coat Very hardy Polled High quality meat

with marbling Excellent mothering Docile Highly fertile and

calve easily

Angus

Solid black colour Naturally polled Hardy,

undemanding, and adaptable

Mature in 2 years High carcase yield Marbling Calve easily and

good mothers

Shorthorn Long to medium

horns Have been farmed for

both meat and milk Medium size Docile and easy to

handle Good calving and

mothering Meat is lean but

marbled good flavour Crossed with other

breeds

South Devon

Docile and easy to handle

Used for crossing with other breeds

Highly fertile, easy calving, and good mothering

Adapts to temperature extremes

Good at converting grass to meat

Exotic Breeds

Limousin Charolais Simmental Saler Belgian Blue

Limousin

Medium sized and well muscled

Golden brown coat Mature early High quality carcase

and high meat to bone ratio

Polled Efficient feed

converters

Charolais

Colour varies from white to light straw

Docile which allows for high feed conversion rates

Large size, heavily muscled

Lean meat give high dressing out percentages

Companies pay a premium

Tolerates heat well

Simmental

Red and white spotted or gold and white.

White face Horned Easy to handle, hardy High and long term

fertility. Bulls common as

terminal sires often mated with Hereford and Angus

Good mothering and milk yield

Fast growing can mature in 12 months

Excellent converters of grass to meat

Saler

Black and polled Excellent foragers on

rough pastures and hay in winter

Thick coat in winter makes them hardy

Strong legs and feet can hadle rough ground without feet problems

Excellent mothers and calving

Belgian Blue Used as terminal

sires for passing on double muscle gene

Very lean meat with high meat to bone ratio.

Terms used in Breeding Terminal sire – male used in

breeding for meat breeds Maternal cattle – cows used

for producing dairy breeds Bull – adult male Calf – young cattle not

weaned Heifer – female cow not

mated Steer – castrated male Bullock – same as steer Bobby calf – male or female

calves reared for meat

Store cattle – young stock not yet fattened

Freemartin – twins born with defects that make them infertile

Springing cow – pregnant cow about to give birth

Teaser bull – neutered bull but can still mate

Nurse cow – used for rearing calves

Dry cow – cow not producing milk

Steers and Bulls

Not castrated – for breeding Castrated to make more docile and put on weight on hind quarters