Country of origin | UK (Scotland) |
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Use | Meat |
Traits | |
Weight |
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Height |
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Coat | Red, Dun |
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Luing cattle (pronounced ling cattle) are a beef breed developed on the island of Luing in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland [1] by the Cadzow brothers in 1947. It was formed by first crossbreeding Beef Shorthorn with Highland cattle and then breeding the resulting progeny with Beef Shorthorns to produce an animal three quarters Beef Shorthorn, one quarter Highland. The breed of red-brown cattle are moderately sized and extremely hardy. The intent was to produce a good beef cow with the ability to raise a calf under adverse weather conditions. It was officially recognised as a breed by the British government in 1965. The breed is still farmed today, mainly in Scotland but also in other areas of the world.
Luings were first created by the Cadzow brothers; Ralph, Denis and Shane, in 1947. [2] They crossbred two types of cattle to produce the Luing; the Highland as the heifer and the Beef Shorthorn as the bull, and were the first new breed of cattle developed in Britain in over 100 years. [3] [4] The Highland was chosen as it contributes the hardiness that we see in the breed today and the Shorthorn because of its fleshing qualities and flavour of meat. [5] Through a breeding programme, the three sons established the breed that we have today. In 1965, the breed was officially recognised by the British Government. [6]
The Cadzow family continue to farm on Luing and the breed remains popular on the surrounding isles, including Scarba and Torsa. [7] The breed has been exported to countries across the world including Canada and New Zealand, and is highly regarded for hardiness and ease of handling and marbling of its meat. [8]
The average Luing cow will give birth to 10 calves in a lifetime because of their longevity. This has been attributed to the traits inherited from their Highland cattle ancestors. [9] They typically have hair of a medium length and a red or dun coloured coat. [5]
The Highland is a Scottish breed of rustic cattle. It originated in the Scottish Highlands and the Western Islands of Scotland and has long horns and a long shaggy coat. It is a hardy breed, able to withstand the intemperate conditions in the region. The first herd-book dates from 1885; two types – a smaller island type, usually black, and a larger mainland type, usually dun – were registered as a single breed. It is reared primarily for beef, and has been exported to several other countries.
The Aberdeen Angus, sometimes simply Angus, is a Scottish breed of small beef cattle. It derives from cattle native to the counties of Aberdeen, Banff, Kincardine and Angus in north-eastern Scotland. In 2018 the breed accounted for over 17% of the beef production in the United Kingdom.
Luing is one of the Slate Islands, Firth of Lorn, in the west of Argyll in Scotland, about 16 miles (26 km) south of Oban. The island has an area of 1,430 hectares and is bounded by several small skerries and islets. It has a population of around 200 people, mostly living in Cullipool, Toberonochy, and Blackmillbay.
The Longhorn or British Longhorn is a British breed of beef cattle characterised by long curving horns. It originated in northern England, in the counties of Lancashire, Westmorland and Yorkshire, and later spread to the English Midlands and to Ireland. It was originally a slow heavy draught animal; cows gave a little milk, although high in fat. In the eighteenth century Robert Bakewell applied his methods of selective breeding to these cattle, which for a short time became the predominant British breed. Both the numbers and the quality of the breed declined throughout the nineteenth century and for much of the twentieth. A breed society was formed in 1878, and a herd-book published in that year.
The Galloway is a Scottish breed of beef cattle, named after the Galloway region of Scotland, where it originated during the seventeenth century.
The Dairy Shorthorn is a British breed of dairy cattle. It derives from the Shorthorn cattle of Teesside, in the North Riding of Yorkshire and in Northumbria in north-eastern England. The Shorthorn was for this reason at first known as the Durham or Teeswater.
Wagyu is the collective name for the four principal Japanese breeds of beef cattle. All wagyū cattle originate from early twentieth-century cross-breeding between native Japanese cattle and imported stock, mostly from Europe.
The Murray Grey is an Australian breed of polled beef cattle. It originated between 1905 and 1917 in the upper Murray River valley, on the border between New South Wales and Victoria. It is similar in appearance to the Aberdeen Angus, from which it largely derives, but is grey, silver or dun in colour.
The Afrikaner or Africander is an African breed of taurine-indicine cattle in the Sanga group of African cattle. It is derived from the cattle of the Khoikhoi (Hottentot) people which were already present in the area of modern South Africa when the Dutch East India Company established the Cape Colony in 1652.
The Belted Galloway is a traditional Scottish breed of beef cattle. It derives from the Galloway stock of the Galloway region of south-western Scotland, and was established as a separate breed in 1921. It is adapted to living on the poor upland pastures and windswept moorlands of the region. The exact origin of the breed is unclear, although the white belt for which they are named, and which distinguishes the breed from black Galloway cattle, is often surmised to be the result of cross-breeding with the similarly coloured Dutch Lakenvelder.
The Irish Moiled is a rare cattle breed from Ireland. It is a dual-purpose breed, reared for both beef and milk. It originated in County Leitrim, County Sligo, County Down, and County Donegal, but the breed is now found throughout Ireland.
The Shorthorn breed of cattle originated in the North East of England in the late eighteenth century. The breed was developed as dual-purpose, suitable for both dairy and beef production; however, certain blood lines within the breed always emphasised one quality or the other. Over time, these different lines diverged, and by the second half of the twentieth century, two separate breeds had developed – the Beef Shorthorn, and the Milking Shorthorn. All Shorthorn cattle are coloured red, white, or roan, although roan cattle are preferred by some, and completely white animals are not common. However, one type of Shorthorn has been bred to be consistently white – the Whitebred Shorthorn, which was developed to cross with black Galloway cattle to produce a popular blue roan crossbreed, the Blue Grey.
The White Park is a modern British breed of cattle. It was established in 1973 to include several herds or populations of colour-pointed white cattle – white-coated, with points of either red or black on the ears and feet. Such cattle have a long history in the British Isles, and the origins of some herds go back to the Middle Ages.
The Australian Charbray is an Australian breed of cattle derived from a cross between the French Charolais cattle and American Brahman cattle. The charbray breed was first conceived in the United States of America in the 1930s and later introduced into Australia in 1969. In Australia, Australian charbray breeders are concentrated in the tropical Northern regions of Queensland. As of 1977, the official breeder society of Charbray cattle in Australia and New Zealand is the Charbray Society of Australia Limited, responsible for recording Charbray cattle in herd books, fostering improvement, enhancement and sales of Charbray cattle.
The Armoricaine or Armorican is an endangered French breed of domestic cattle. It originated in Brittany in the nineteenth century. It has a red coat with white markings, and has short horns.
Whitebred Shorthorn is a British type of beef cattle originating in north west England and south west Scotland. It is derived from Shorthorn cattle, but is always white, rather than being the range of colours found in other Shorthorns. It has not undergone the specialisation seen in other Shorthorns, and so it remains as a more traditional hardy and thrifty cattle type. This favours its use for conservation grazing of hill pastures, grazing rank grass species to maintain a diverse flora.
The Lincoln Red is a British breed of red-coated beef cattle. It originates in, and is named for, the county of Lincolnshire in the eastern Midlands of England. It was selectively bred in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries by crossing large local draught cattle of the region with Teeswater Shorthorns of medium size. It was at first known as the Lincolnshire Red Shorthorn, and was a dual-purpose breed, reared both for milk and for beef. The polling gene was introduced in the early twentieth century, and the cattle are now usually polled; the word 'shorthorn' was dropped from the breed name in 1960. In the twenty-first century it is reared for beef.
The American Milking Devon is an American breed of dual-purpose cattle, reared both for milk and for beef. It derives from the Devon cattle of the United States, which in turn are derived from the North Devon cattle of south-west England. It was established as a separate breed in 1978 with the formation of the American Milking Devon Cattle Association, after the breeding aims of the Devon were concentrated almost exclusively on beef production. It is a rare breed: its conservation status is listed as by the Livestock Conservancy as 'critical'.
The Blue Albion was a British breed of cattle with an unusual blue roan coat. It originated in the English Midlands in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, and was a dual-purpose breed, reared both for beef and for milk. It became extinct following the foot-and-mouth outbreak of 1967.
The Japanese Shorthorn is a breed of small Japanese beef cattle. It is one of six native Japanese cattle breeds, and one of the four Japanese breeds known as wagyū, the others being the Japanese Black, the Japanese Brown and the Japanese Polled.