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The Hereford breed of beef cows was bred in the county of Hereford in the UK, which historically was one of the agricultural areas of England. The origins of the Hereford are 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, which were once bred in large numbers on the border between England and Wales.
The first mention of Hereford cattle dates back to the 1600s. From the beginning of the 18th century and in the first half of the 19th century, an official stud book of Herefords was already kept. From the very beginning, Hereford cattle were bred as meat animals. Breeding cattle were selected for maximum meat productivity.
Later, the size of the bulls was reduced in order to obtain higher quality beef.
Initially, Herefords were phenotypically very similar to other breeds of English cattle:
cattle from North Devon
and the Sussex breed of cows.
It is believed that the official history of the Hereford breed began in 1742 with three head of cattle.The founding 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. During the breeding process, Hereford cattle were infused with the blood of other breeds. Most often shorthorns.
When breeding the breed, Tomkins set the goal of obtaining cattle that were undemanding in terms of feed and capable of growing quickly and gaining weight on grass alone. In addition, the Hereford breed was required to be disease resistant, early maturing 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 across all continents primarily lie in the fertility of this breed. Since in general the breed is not large and calves born from Hereford bulls are 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 bred by a Hereford bull;
- high quality meat;
- ability to gain weight and maintain weight on grass alone, do not require special feeding rations;
- high degree of adaptability to different climatic conditions;
- peaceful nature;
- The “brand” of the breed is white head.
Breeders worked for a long time to ensure that the white head became a special feature 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, Kazakh white-headed to some extent can be called another type of Hereford.
When spread 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 is already claimed as 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 the selection of other cattle breeds.
General characteristics of the Hereford breed
Meat animal. The cattle are small in stature, but quite massive. Average height 125 cm at the withers. Bust girth 197 cm. Oblique length 153 cm. stretch index 122.5. Pastern girth 20 cm. Boning index 16. The bones are strong enough to support the weight of the muscles.
General appearance: squat, 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
It split from the “classic” one thanks to a mutation that ensured the hereditary absence of horns. Today, you can increasingly find this type because of the ease of breeding and growing.When sorting out relationships, neither bulls nor cows cause serious injuries to each other. Otherwise, the polled type does not differ from the “classic” one.
Black Hereford
Since Herefords are often crossed with other breeds, the emergence of the black type of this cattle breed was apparently natural. The Black Hereford has a slight admixture of Aberdeen Angus or Holstein breeds. This type is similar in characteristics to the Red Hereford. The only difference is the color. Instead of a red body color, this type, as the name suggests, has a black one.
Judging by the exterior, the cow in the photo has some dairy Holstein breed.
The bull most likely carries Aberdeen Angus blood.
The black type of Hereford is larger than the red type. In this regard, breeders of beef cattle breeds prefer the black type for raising for meat.
If an animal carries 50% Hereford blood and 50% Aberdeen Angus blood, it is called a “black baldie”.
Black Baldi
Crossing Hereford cattle with Aberdeen Angus cattle 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 Anguss grows larger than the parent breeds. But the second generation of these crosses will already produce splitting, so it makes no sense to breed them “inside them.”
Herefords are often crossed with other meat breeds. The resulting offspring of black color is also called “black baldi”. The photo shows a cross between a black Hereford and Simmental breed Cattle.
Productivity
Weight of adult 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. 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 cattle breed is not suitable for producing milk. Originally selected only for meat performance, 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 spent on obtaining 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.
This is how Hereford cows can develop ocular squamous cell carcinoma. This happens in areas where there is long daylight with bright sun. Animals that do not have dark “glasses” around their eyes are most susceptible to the disease.
There is usually no pigment in the skin underneath the white markings. And if thick hair on the face partially protects the skin from burns, then on the udder, where the hair is very sparse, Hereford cows often receive udder burns.In this regard, black Herefords and black Baldis are in an advantageous position, since their skin has a dark pigment under their white coat.
In the case of cows, this effect can be caused by buckwheat straw, which improves the quality of milk and increases its volume.
Vaginal prolapse is also considered a hereditary problem in Hereford cows. There is a version that, in addition to heredity, vaginal prolapse can occur 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 the dwarfism gene. No pattern in the appearance of dwarf individuals depending on the sex of the calf was observed, so it is believed that this characteristic is not related to sex. But when breeding, you need to monitor which cow gives dwarf calves in order to exclude it from further reproduction.
10 reasons why you should own Herefords, according to the Irish Association:
Reviews from Hereford cattle owners
Herefords are not popular among private owners due to their strict meat orientation. They are mainly owned by farmers focused on selling high-quality beef.
Conclusion
Hereford cattle are well suited for the production of high-quality meat, but this makes it difficult to keep them on private farmsteads, where owners want to receive not only meat, but also milk. On a homestead farm, it is better to keep a cross between a Hereford and a dairy cow. You can achieve this by artificially inseminating your cow with the sperm of a Hereford bull.
