The Lincoln Red is a British breed of red-coated

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 opera ...

. It originates in, and is named for, the

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

in the eastern Midlands of England. It was

selectively bred Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant m ...

in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries by crossing large local

draught cattle An ox ( : oxen, ), also known as a bullock (in BrE, AusE, and IndE), is a male bovine trained and used as a draft animal. Oxen are commonly castrated adult male cattle; castration inhibits testosterone and aggression, which makes the m ...

of the region with Teeswater

Shorthorn The Shorthorn breed of cattle originated in the North East of England in the late eighteenth century. The breed was developed as dual-purpose, suitable for both dairy and beef production; however, certain blood lines within the breed always emp ...

s of medium size. It was at first known as the Lincolnshire Red Shorthorn, and was a dual-purpose breed, reared both for milk and for beef. The polling gene was introduced in the early twentieth century, and the cattle are now usually polled; the word 'shorthorn' was dropped from the breed name in 1960. In the twenty-first century it is reared for beef.

History

During the seventeenth century,

were brought from Holland to the eastern Midlands of England. These were large, coarse, powerful and rugged animals with large hooves and short horns, usually either red or red-and-white in colour. In his ''Cheape and good hvsbandry for the well-ordering of all beasts and fowles'' of 1631,

Gervase Markham Gervase (or Jervis) Markham (ca. 1568 – 3 February 1637) was an English poet and writer. He was best known for his work '' The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman'', first publishe ...

describes the cattle of Lincolnshire as

pied A piebald or pied animal is one that has a pattern of unpigmented spots (white) on a pigmented background of hair, feathers or scales. Thus a piebald black and white dog is a black dog with white spots. The animal's skin under the white backgro ...

, with more white than of other colours, and with little crooked horns. John Mortimer, writing in 1712, refers to these as the "Dutch-breed". In the latter part of the eighteenth century and the early years of the nineteenth, cattle-breeders in Lincolnshire bought medium-sized red

(also called Durham) cattle from the counties of

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

and

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

, and

cross-bred 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 ...

these with the local large draught cattle. One such breeder was Thomas Turnell of

Wragby Wragby ( ) is a town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated at the junction of the A157 and A158 roads, and approximately north-west from Horncastle and about north-east of Lincoln. Histor ...

, who well before the end of the century had a herd of cherry-red short-horned cattle of medium size, fast-growing and quick to put on weight; they were known as 'Turnell Reds'. Cattle of this type soon acquired a good reputation; from 1822 they were registered in Coates's Shorthorn

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 ...

. In 1895 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 of ...

, the Lincoln Red Shorthorn Association, was formed, and within a year had published its own herd-book. By the 1920s the Lincoln Red Shorthorn was the second-most numerous registered breed in the country. From the beginning of 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 opposi ...

until about 1956, a breeder name Eric Pentecost worked to introduce the polled gene to the breed while retaining its other characteristics; he first used a

Red Poll The Red Poll is a dual-purpose breed of cattle developed in England in the latter half of the 19th century. The Red Poll is a cross of the Norfolk Red beef cattle and Suffolk Dun dairy cattle breeds. Description and uses The cattle are red, p ...

bull, and later made use of

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 ...

bulls, both black and red. The polled stock was first shown in 1956, and took several prizes; in the same year a polled Lincoln bull was licensed by the

Ministry of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

. They are now present in a number of countries around the world. These cattle were imported into Australia over 100 years ago and the Lincoln Red Cattle Society (Aust) was formed in 1971 with one registered herd.

Characteristics

Lincoln Red cattle are a very dark red in colour that reduces the likelihood of sunburn and cancer. They do not have horns. They may be polled and are noted for their docility and an ability to thrive under all conditions.

Use

References

Cattle breeds originating in the United Kingdom History of Lincolnshire Lincoln, England Cattle breeds Animal breeds on the RBST Watchlist {{cattle-stub Red cattle