The Dutch Improved Red Pied, nl, Verbeterd Roodbont, italic=no, is a recentlydeveloped Dutch breed of

beef cattle Beef cattle are cattle raised for meat production (as distinguished from dairy cattle, used for milk production). The meat of mature or almost mature cattle is mostly known as beef. In beef production there are three main stages: cow-calf operat ...

. It derives from the dual-purpose

Meuse-Rhine-Issel The Meuse-Rhine-Issel or Meuse-Rhine-Yssel ( nl, Maas-Rijn-IJssel, italic=no) is a Dutch breed of dual-purpose cattle, reared both for meat and for milk. It falls within the Lowland-Pied group of North European cattle; it is red-pied, and of ...

breed, and is characterised by a high incidence of the double-muscling gene. A

breed association Breed clubs are associations or clubs with activities centered on a single, specific breed of a particular species of domesticated animal. The purpose of the association will vary with the species of animal and the goals and needs of the members o ...

was started in 1988.

History

The Dutch Improved Red Pied derives from the

, a dual-purpose breed reared both for milk and for beef. The muscular

hyperplasia Hyperplasia (from ancient Greek ὑπέρ ''huper'' 'over' + πλάσις ''plasis'' 'formation'), or hypergenesis, is an enlargement of an organ or tissue caused by an increase in the amount of organic tissue that results from cell proliferati ...

known as

double muscling Myostatin (also known as growth differentiation factor 8, abbreviated GDF8) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''MSTN'' gene. Myostatin is a myokine that is produced and released by myocytes and acts on muscle cells to inhibit muscle ...

was first observed in that breed in 1937, but because of the associated

dystocia Obstructed labour, also known as labour dystocia, is the baby not exiting the pelvis because it is physically block during childbirth although the uterus contracts normally. Complications for the baby include not getting enough oxygen which may ...

was regarded as undesirable or as a defect. With the greater availability of

antibiotics An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention o ...

in the years after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, it became possible to deliver calves by

Caesarian section Caesarean section, also known as C-section or caesarean delivery, is the surgical procedure by which one or more babies are delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen, often performed because vaginal delivery would put the baby or mo ...

, and from the 1960s

semen Semen, also known as seminal fluid, is an organic bodily fluid created to contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads (sexual glands) and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize the female ovum. Semen i ...

from double-muscled Meuse-Rhine-Issel bulls became available for

artificial insemination Artificial insemination is the deliberate introduction of sperm into a female's cervix or uterine cavity for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy through in vivo fertilization by means other than sexual intercourse. It is a fertility treatme ...

. Selection of these animals for beef production alone led to the creation of the Verbeterd Roodbont, for which a

was started in 1988. In the twenty-first century, a research project aimed to reduce the proportion of births requiring delivery by Caesarian section to less than half by 2020. In 2006 there were about of the cattle in the hands of approximately 200 breeders, and in 2007 the

conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...

of the breed was listed by the

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

as 'not at risk'. In 2019 the total number was reported to

DAD-IS DAD-IS is the acronym of the worldwide Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, within the FAO's management of animal genetic resources programme.Domestic Animal Diversity Infor ...

as , and the conservation status listed as 'at risk'/'endangered-maintained'.

Characteristics

The cattle are red pied and of medium size. Increased size is one of the aims of

selection Selection may refer to: Science * Selection (biology), also called natural selection, selection in evolution ** Sex selection, in genetics ** Mate selection, in mating ** Sexual selection in humans, in human sexuality ** Human mating strategie ...

in the breed; breeding bulls should reach a height at the

withers The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, it is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, cattle ar ...

of at least by the age of three.

References

{{Reflist, 45em, refs= Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007)
List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources
annex t
''The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture''
Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{ISBN, 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020. Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016)
''Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding''
(sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. {{ISBN, 9781780647944. Breed data sheet: Verbeterd Roodbont / Netherlands (Cattle)
Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2022. Marleen Felius (1995)
''Cattle Breeds: An Encyclopedia''
Doetinchem, Netherlands: Misset. {{ISBN, 9789054390176.
Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, School of Veterinary Medicine Hannover. Archived 15 October 2007. Cattle breeds originating in the Netherlands