|
Breed: Milking Shorthorn:
- Milking Shorthorns are usually red on their backs, sides, and faces, with white
stomachs, but they can be all red, all white, or roan.
- The Milking Shorthorn resembles the (beef) Shorthorn, but has a wedgier, more dairy-cow
confirmation.
- Milking Shorthorns have the same bloodlines as beef Shorthorns. They originated in
northeast England from the dual-purpose Shorthorn.
- This breed of cattle began to be cross bred with a beefy Scottish Shorthorn. Those farmers
raising the non-cross bred Shorthorns began to emphasize the dairy qualities.
- In 1885, an Englishman named Thomas Bates further refined the dairy traits.
- But, both types of Shorthorns shared the same herdbook until 1944, at which time the American
Milking Shorthorn got its own, separate, herdbook.
- Milking Shorthorns are very hardy, adapting well to cold and hot climates.
- They are considered good grazers.
- The average weight of a Milking Shorthorn cow is 1,400 pounds.
- Bulls weigh, on average, 2,100 pounds.
Source:
A Field Guide to Cows
, by John Pukite, Falcon Press,
Helena, Montana, 1996, pp. 54-55.
Picture from
Farming Pages (NZ)
|
