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The Hereford breed of beef cows was bred in the county of Hereford in the UK, historically one of the agricultural regions of England. The origin of the Herefords is not exactly known. There is a version that the ancestors of this cattle were medium-sized red bulls brought by the Romans and large Welsh cattle, once bred in large numbers on the border between England and Wales.
The first references to Hereford cattle date back to the 1600s. From the beginning of the XNUMXth century and in the first half of the XNUMXth century, an official pedigree book of Herefords was already being conducted. From the very beginning, Hereford cattle were bred as meat animals. The selection of pedigree cattle went to the maximum meat productivity.
Later, the size of the bulls was reduced in order to obtain better quality beef.
Initially, Herefords were phenotypically very similar to other breeds of English cattle:
cattle from North Devon
and Sussex cows.
It is believed that the official history of the Hereford breed began in 1742 with three head of cattle. The foundation of the breed is attributed to Benjamin Tomkins – the owner of two cows and a bull, which became the official ancestors of the Hereford cow breed. In the process of breeding, Hereford cattle were infused with the blood of other breeds. Most often shorthorns.
When breeding the Tomkins breed, the goal was to obtain cattle that are undemanding to feed and able to grow quickly and gain weight on grass alone. In addition, the Hereford breed was required to be resistant to diseases, early maturity and good fertility – traits that are very important in today’s cattle breeding. Other breeders supported this direction of selection, resulting in high-quality beef cattle.
Distinctive features of the breed
Hereford cattle are valued for their productive and reproductive qualities. The reasons why the Hereford breed of cows spread to all continents primarily lies in the fertility of this breed. Since, in general, the breed is not large and calves from bulls of the Hereford breed are born small, calving in cows of other breeds is much easier.
The advantages of the breed, for which it is valued in the world:
- fertility;
- easy calving in cows of other breeds if they were covered with a Hereford bull;
- high quality meat;
- the ability to fatten and maintain weight on one grass, do not require special fattening rations;
- high degree of adaptability to various climatic conditions;
- peaceful character;
- The “brand” of the breed is a white head.
Breeders have been working for a long time to make the white head a special sign of the Hereford breed, but Soviet geneticists did not give them such an opportunity, having developed the Kazakh white-headed breed of cows with the participation of Herefords. For this reason, the Kazakh white-headed to some extent can be called another type of Hereford.
When spreading throughout the world, any breed cannot but develop intrabreed types. Herefords are no exception. There are at least three types of Herefords, one of which already claims to be a breed.
Description of intrabreed types of the Hereford breed
The main differences in the Hereford breed arose as a result of mutations and deliberate mixing of the Hereford with the Aberdeen Angus breed in order to obtain larger offspring. Also, some differences in Herefords are determined by the different climatic conditions of the countries in which they are bred.
The “classic” type of Hereford is today preserved as a genetic bank for breeding other breeds of cattle.
General characteristics of the Hereford breed
Meat animal. The cattle is small in stature, but quite massive. Average height 125 cm at the withers. Bust 197 cm. Oblique length 153 cm. Stretch index 122,5. The girth of the pastern is 20 cm. The index of boneiness is 16. The backbone is strong enough to withstand the weight of the muscles.
General appearance: stocky powerful animal, with a barrel-shaped body. The dewlap is well developed. Hereford cows have small udders.
The color of the “classic” Hereford is red and piebald. The main color of the body is red. The head is white. The pezhina on the lower part of the body often merges with the pezhina on the head. Sometimes there is a white stripe along the ridge.
Moreover, the horns of this type are often directed downward or forward.
polled type
Split from the “classic” due to a mutation that ensured the hereditary absence of horns. Today, this type can be increasingly found due to the convenience of breeding and growing. When sorting out the relationship, neither bulls nor cows cause serious injuries to each other. Otherwise, the polled type does not differ from the “classic”.
Black Hereford
Since Herefords are often crossed with other breeds, the appearance of the black type of this breed of cattle, apparently, was natural. The Black Hereford has a small admixture of Aberdeen Angus or Holstein breeds. According to its characteristics, this type is similar to the red Hereford. Color differs only in color. Instead of a red hull, this type is, as the name suggests, black.
Judging by the exterior, the cow in the photo has an admixture of dairy Holstein breed.
The bull with a high degree of probability carries Aberdeen-Angus blood.
The black type of Hereford is larger than the red type. In this regard, breeders of meat breeds of cattle prefer the black type for growing for meat.
If the animal carries 50% Hereford blood and 50% Aberdeen Angus blood, it is called a “black Baldi”.
black baldi
Crossbreeding of Hereford cattle with Aberdeen Angus is used to obtain the highest possible slaughter yield of meat from the carcass. As a result of heterosis, the calf from the Black Hereford and Aberdeen Angus grows larger than the parent breeds. But the second generation of these hybrids will already give splitting, so it makes no sense to breed them “in oneself”.
Often, Herefords are crossed with other meat breeds. The resulting offspring of black suit is also called “black baldi”. The photo shows a cross between a black Hereford and a Simmental cattle breed.
Productivity
The weight of adult representatives of Hereford cattle: cows from 650 to 850 kg, bulls from 900 to 1200 kg. Compared to the size of adult animals, calves are born small: heifers 25-30, bulls 28-33 kg. But on fatty, nutrient-rich milk, calves quickly gain weight: from 0,8 to 1,5 kg per day. The slaughter yield of meat is from 58 to 62 percent. The maximum achievement is 70%.
Herefords produce very high quality marbled meat. Unfortunately, the Hereford breed of cattle is not adapted to give milk. Originally selected for meat only, Hereford queens produce exactly the amount of milk needed to feed a calf. In addition, unlike dairy breeds, Hereford cattle are wild. There were attempts to milk the Hereford cow, but the amount of milk produced was not worth the effort expended to obtain it.
Health problems
Hereford cattle have quite serious hereditary diseases. Fortunately, it appears mostly in southern countries with hot sun and is associated with white markings.
So hereford cows can develop ocular squamous cell carcinoma. This happens in an area where there is a long daylight hours with a bright sun. Animals that do not have dark “glasses” around the eye are most susceptible to the disease.
There is usually no pigment in the skin under the white markings. And if thick hair on the muzzle partially protects the skin from burns, then on the udder, where the hair is very rare, Hereford cows often get udder burns. In this respect, Black Herefords and Black Baldi are in an advantageous position, since their skin under their white coat has a dark pigment.
In the case of cows, buckwheat straw can lead to this effect, improving the quality of milk and increasing its volume.
Vaginal prolapse is also considered a hereditary problem in Hereford cows. There is a version that, in addition to heredity, the vagina can fall out due to an improper diet. Although, most likely, with abundant feeding, the calf in the womb grows too large, and the vagina falls out as a result of heavy calving.
Herefords also have a dwarfing gene. No regularity in the appearance of dwarf individuals from the sex of the calf was noticed, therefore it is believed that this characteristic is not related to sex. But when breeding, you need to track which of the cows gives dwarf calves in order to exclude it from further reproduction.
10 Reasons The Irish Association Says You Should Get Herefords:
Feedback from Hereford cattle owners
Among private owners, Herefords are not popular because of their strictly meat orientation. They are mainly kept by farmers who focus on selling high-quality beef.
Conclusion
Hereford cattle are well suited for the production of quality meat, but this makes it difficult to keep them in private backyards, where the owners want to receive not only meat, but also milk. In the homestead, it is better to keep a mixture of Hereford with a dairy breed of cows. This can be achieved by artificially inseminating your cow with the sperm of a Hereford bull.