The German Angus (german: Deutsch Angus, italic=no) is a modern German

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

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 was bred in the 1950s in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

by crossing

Aberdeen Angus 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 ...

with various native German cattle breeds:

German Black Pied German Black Pied cattle are a breed of dairy cattle that originated in the North Sea coast regions of northern Germany and the Netherlands. Until the 18th century, cattle of diverse colours were bred in these regions. After 1750, the black pied ...

, Deutsche Rotbunte, and

Fleckvieh The Fleckvieh is a breed of dual-purpose cattle suitable for both milk and meat production. It originated in Central Europe in the 19th century from cross-breeding of local stock with Simmental cattle imported from Switzerland. Today, the worl ...

History

The German Angus was bred in the 1950s by

cross-breeding A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. ''Crossbreeding'', sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, While crossbreeding is used to main ...

imported

stock from the United Kingdom with local German breeds; these were the

or Deutsches Schwarzbuntes Niederungsrind, the Deutsche Rotbunte or Rotbuntes Niederungsrind, and the

or German

Simmental The Simmental ( en, Simme Valley) is an Swiss Alps, alpine valley in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland. It expands from Lenk to Boltigen, in a more or less south-north direction (Obersimmental (district), Obersimmental), and from there to the v ...

. Since 1960 there has been some intromission of North American Angus. In 1955 a

breed society 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 established, and in 1956 a

herd-book A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry and the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeders ...

was started. In 2017 the population was recorded as 9603 cows and 454 bulls.

Characteristics

The German Angus is solid-coloured, black, brown or red, and is always naturally polled (hornless). Compared to the Fleckvieh it matures earlier, calves much more easily and has a higher calving rate, while the calf mortality rate is much lower. A comparative study of recentlyweaned calves of the two breeds found the German Angus to be more easily handled and more placid. It is larger and leaner than the original Scots Angus.

Use

The German Angus is reared principally for

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantity ...

. It may also be used in

vegetation management Conservation grazing or targeted grazing is the use of semi-feral or domesticated grazing livestock to maintain and increase the biodiversity of natural or semi-natural grasslands, heathlands, wood pasture, wetlands and many other habitats.

References

{{Cattle breeds of Germany Cattle breeds originating in Germany Cattle breeds