An Information About Red Devon Cattle www.reddevoncattle.com

Devon cattle are red in colour, varying in shade from a rich deep red to a light red or chestnut colour. The Red Devon is a very old breed of cattle originally from Southwestern England. They were developed to thrive on poor forage in the cold, wet climate of the region, and were originally a triple purpose breed kept for milk, beef and for ploughing oxen.

They are now kept largely for beef, being of a medium size which gives a suitable sized joint for the modern family, and are not so large that they cause excessive damage to pasture.

The Red Devon Cattle are widely known for their ability to forage, algility and maintain weight and continue to grow even when they are short of grass. They have amazing constitution that most other breeds don't have. Their growth rate makes them stand out. To clarify clearly that growth rate doesn't mean lots of grass. It is the ability to convert feed to muscle and comes from skilled breeding.

Like all breeds of cattle, the need for skilled breeding plans for a beast with good hieght, length and easy to calve, which means small heads and smooth shoulders, is a must. When cattle are structually sound, well bred, the calve should pop out easily, have small deer like feet, nice baggy coat, and then grow like mushrooms.

When setting out to buy a Red Devon Sire don't disregard the type of cattle you are aiming to produce i.e. either early maturing vealers through to later maturing bullocks for the export trade.

At the same time consider the major faults of your cow herd and seek to rectify these problems, or at minimum don't increase them, through the careful selection of your Red Devon Bull.

For example...if you own a herd of large framed later maturing cows that lack muscle and thickness, and you are aiming to produce vealers for the local markets, then the sire you choose would need to be earlier maturing with above average muscle expression. Red Devon Cattle are an excellent cross and much thought should be imposed upon when choosing good cattle.

The first question to ask is there a certain trait or problem you want to get rid of like, need more height, more beef on the rump, smaller head, smoother shoulder for easy calving etc...

Nothing worse than having to pull calves, or cattle that don't grow. So when choosing you bull bear that in mind...you focus is to progress forwards. Each year you want to be making one step closer to your end goal...

Another reason for choosing Red Devon Cattle was the fact that this breed have, for thousands of years, lived and evolved on the Devonian Sandstone soils of Northern Devon. The underlying geology of the Black Mountains of Wales is almost identical to that of northern Devon meaning that we suffer from the same mineral and trace element deficiencies (and indeed excesses) and consequently have similar soils.

The Red Devon Cattle, together with the other red native breed, the Hereford, are perfectly suited to this soil type and its lack of certain essential minerals. www.reddevoncattle.com