• Europe
    • Menu

    Gloucester

    calendar icon 29 September 2022
    clock icon 2 minute read

    History


    The Gloucester is one of the oldest breeds and it originated in the Severn Vale and throughout Gloucestershire, England as early as the 13th Century.
    They were valued for their meat, milk (producing cheese) and as strong draught oxen. They were most popular around 1750 with the breed reaching from Devon to Essex and up to the Welsh coast but then the numbers decreased as disease, development of other breeds and arable farming increased.

    Glocester bull
    Photo courtesy of The Gloucester Cattle Society, www.gloucestercattle.org.uk
    There was a great success in 1796 when the Gloucester cow Blossom provided the first anti-smallpox serum to Sir Edward Jenner as he noticed that milk maids were free of smallpox.

    Originally formed in 1919 the Gloucester Cattle Society was revived in 1973 initially to provide for the survival of the breed. The Society has been very successful and breed numbers have now grown to over 700 registered females. The cattle are again recognised for their contribution to the environment and superb beef and cheese.

    The Gloucester is categorised as a rare breed by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust and its status is monitored on the Watchlist.

    Characteristics


    The Gloucester is a dual purpose breed with attention being paid to both its beef and milk/cheese producing qualities.
    They are a black brown colour with a white tail, belly and a white streak on the back, the hair is fine and short. The breed is horned which are fine, wide and turn upwards with black tips. The breed in medium in size and is slow maturing but from this produces fine-grained marbled beef.
    A group of Gloucester cattle
    Photo courtesy of The Gloucester Cattle Society, www.gloucestercattle.org.uk

    Statistics


  • Dual purpose
  • Ideal for parkland management
  • Slow grown great tasting beef
  • Producers of the famous Single and Double Gloucester Cheese (the Single can by official designation, be only made on Gloucestershire farms by a pedigree herd of Gloucester cattle.)

    Comparative


    Distribution


    The Gloucester is being conserved in the UK with around 1500 registered animals.

    References (the above information was cited from the following sites)

    www.gloucestercattle.org.uk

    • Our Partners

    Targan Lallemand FAI Heifer International Thermo Fisher Scientific

    More Breeds

    View all

    Shetland

    calendar icon 29 September 2022
    clock icon 3 minute read

    Speckle Park

    calendar icon 29 September 2022
    clock icon 3 minute read
    In 1937 Mary Lindsay, daughter of a beef farmer of Greenstreet Northern Saskatchewan, Canada, spotted a uniquely coloured speckled red roan heifer in her fathers herd. The unique colour pattern impressed her and she subsequently bought the heifer from her dad.

    She found regardless of the breed of sire she bred the cow to it always produced calves with that colour pattern. It is believed that the heifer was a descendent of a Teeswater Shorthorn which carried the White Park gene as well. These two ancient breeds dating back to the 16th Century were hard, strong and milky. Mary continued to breed speckled cattle and found that the speckled pattern was a dominant trait in her newer version of those ancient breeds. The cattle grew quickly, were hardy and quiet natured.

    Miniature Hereford

    calendar icon 29 September 2022
    clock icon 2 minute read
    The Miniature Hereford has been developed over the last 30 years by selective breeding of stock that was originally imported to the US from England in the early 19th Century. The Miniature Hereford breeding program was started by the Largent family in 1974, whose ranch is located in the Davis Mountains of Texas.

    Rust Largent initially concentrated on breeding the most efficient cattle suited to the local conditions of his ranch. After working on size reduction for several years with efficiency in mind, a bull called Laser was used at the ranch that enabled a reduction in frame size to be achieved at an increased rate.

    Our Partners

    Targan Lallemand FAI Heifer International Thermo Fisher Scientific
    No Advert Set
    © 2000 - 2024 - Global Ag Media. All Rights Reserved | No part of this site may be reproduced without permission.
  • Our Sites