Expert: Karin - 11/6/2011

Question
Hi i am trying to research more about cattle  as i would love to work on a farm and if possible could you answer the following questions i will be honestly grateful:

could you please name 3 breeds of cattle that are United Kingdom and 2 breeds that are rare breeds.

why are those breeds kept for E.g. Milk, meat, eggs, breeding stock, suckler herd etc, breeding cycle,production cycle and market requirements.

could you please provide me with a short history for each of those breeds and details of production systems used for cattle.

thank you so much

Answer
Hello Annie,

I would love to answer your questions!

Now, since I do not live in the United Kingdom (I reside in Canada), I can only guess what breeds that are popular there, and those that are rare in the U.K. Popular breeds may be the following (I'm going to list more than three here):

Holsteins
Jerseys
Herefords
Gascon
Ayrshire
British Guernsey
Galloway
Belted Galloway
Aberdeen Angus
British Charolais
Dexter
British White

Taken from this site: http://www.stackyard.com/pedigree/html/ukcattle2.html

Rare breeds would be these:

Aberdeen Angus (original population)
The Chillingham Wild Cattle
Northern Dairy Shorthorn
Whitebred Shorthorn
Vaynol
Lincoln Red (original population)
Gloucester
Irish Moiled
Shetland
Hereford (original population)
White Park

Taken from this site: http://www.rbst.org.uk/watch-list/cattle

One very important thing you should learn about cattle is that they do not produce nor lay eggs.  Cattle are not birds, they are mammals which give birth to live young.  Only chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys and other birds lay eggs, not cattle.

Also, all and just about every breed can be kept as breeding stock.  Dairy cattle like Jerseys, Holsteins, Ayrshires and Guernseys may have suckler herds where bull calves are separated and raised on cows that are to be culled for productive or temperamental reasons, but not beef cattle.  

Every breed has a purpose.  Based on their genetics, what they've been selected for and how they are used primarily is the reason why they are used for what they are.  For instance, Holsteins and Jerseys have been selected to have larger udders than their beef counterparts because they have been selected and bred so that they produce more milk than what their calves can get from them.  As for beef cattle like Herefords and Angus, they are selected to have more meatier, growthier frames than dairy cattle simply because they have been genetically selected to produce cattle meant for the meat market.  

Now there are breeds that are called dual-purpose cattle.  These include Dexters, Gascon, Devons, Red Polls and others.  They are selected for not just to be beefy or dairy, but both.

Now I am not sure what you are referring to by "breeding cycle" or "production cycle," but I'll go out on a tangent here:

For all breeds listed above, the average age of sexual maturity (or puberty) for heifers are around 15 months of age, though the start of puberty is earlier: quite often at 10 to 12 months of age.  Bulls reach puberty a few months earlier, typically 10 to 12 months of age, but will begin when they're around 8 or 9 months old.  

On average, a heifer that reaches sexual maturity will get bred at 15 months of age.  Some producers feel this is too soon, and may wait until a heifer is at least 18 months old before getting her pregnant.  Of course this depends on the breed itself and how early or late maturing it is. (By "late maturing" or "early maturing" I'm referring to the time period and age a particular animal or breed takes to reach sexual or adult maturity.)

The average gestation period for all cattle is 285 days in length.  However this can also be variable, depending not only on breed and genetics, but also body condition, diet, and age.  For example, a heifer will typically have a longer gestation period than a cow that has had given birth two or three or more times already.  A thin cow will experience a longer gestation period than a cow in normal condition.  And finally, a Jersey cow will have a much shorter gestation period than a Charolais cow. (A good link to check out is: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_gestation_period_of_a_cow)

When a heifer gives birth to her first calf, a fair number of cattle producers were pronounce her a cow.  However, opinions vary by region, and you may find other producer from other parts of the country or other countries saying that a heifer that has her first calf is not a cow, but a first-calf heifer.  Whatever the terms, she will typically be 24 months of age by this time (if bred at 15 months of age).

Now the key thing to remember is that a heifer is not automatically a mature cow once she has her first calf.  A first-calf heifer is still growing, and it's when she's around 2 years of age that she starts to have her baby replaced by adult teeth.  She will not reach full adult maturity until she's around 3 to 4 years of age, by then she will have her second calf and be officially known as a cow.

Now, back to the production/breeding cycle part of things.  So a heifer has had her first calf.  Great!  She will be producing colostrum for her calf, a crucial source of immunoglobins and antibodies that her calf needs in order to grow and survive to a healthy adult.  Without these antibodies and such, the calf is much more sensitive to illnesses than a calf that has had his colostrum.  A calf must have this colostrum as soon as possible, and not after 24 hours after birth.  If he's not up and suckling after an hour or two after birth, or the cow or heifer is not producing any milk/colostrum, you need to tube him or give him a bottle full of colostrum.

Once the calf is up and suckling and bouncing around after finding his feet, his mother has to pass the placenta or after birth.  Normally this takes around 10 to 24 hours.

Any cow or heifer cannot be bred immediately after having her calf.  Her uterus needs to go back to normal shape and her estrous and estrus periods go back into normal cycling.  For a cow with a healthy reproductive system that is highly fertile, this should take around 45 to 60 days to occur.  Some older or poorly conditioned (too thin or too fat) females may take longer than this to come back to normal cycling periods. If you want to keep a good fertile herd, these females should be culled.  

For normal cycling to occur, a heifer or cow must have an estrous cycle every 17 to 24 days (average is 21 days), with estrus lasting 18 to 24 hours in length.  Estrus is the heat period of a female bovine, where she is most receptive and ready to be bred.  Estrous is the period of time from the start of one heat to the start of another, where the ovaries are producing and sending an egg to the oviduct (which occurs a couple days after estrus), and the corpus luteum (what's left after the ovum or egg has left the cluster of ovaries) begins to degrade, producing Estrogen, sending the cow or heifer into heat.

The breeding season thus occurs around 45 to 60 (or 80) days after the end of calving season.  Bulls are put in with the heifers or cows (heifers should be separated and bred earlier than cows) to breed them for 45 to 60 days, then pulled out.  Any cow that is caught to be open (not bred) after the breeding season (or after 90 days have passed), should be culled.

Now for the lactation and calf-growing part of the breeding cycle.  A cow will begin lactating immediately after calving, and not stop until the calf is weaned or until she is no longer milked. She can and will still be lactating during the breeding season, and still be looking after a calf during the breeding season.  A calf should be around 2 to 3 months of age when breeding season starts.  Calves are then weaned when they are around 6, 8 or 10 months of age (depending on the feed available, the condition of the cow, and markets).  Generally a cow would be half-way through her second trimester when her calf is weaned, which goes to show you that yes, a cow can be pregnant and lactating at the same time.  With dairy cows, they are typically dried off (encouraged to slow or stop lactating) 2 months prior to their due date.


As far as history is concerned, I have listed too many breeds to go and give a brief history to each and every one of them.  The two/three best sites I can direct you to to read up on their history are the following:
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle
http://www.thecattlesite.com/breeds/beef
http://www.thecattlesite.com/breeds/dairy

Just simply click on the breed of interest and go from there.

As far as market requirements are concerned, that I cannot tell you because I do not know what the market is for cattle in your country.  You will have to do some researching and ask around for marketing information on the various breeds where you live.

I hope I have answered your questions and then some. :)

All the best and good luck,

-Karin