The Shorthorn breed of cattle originated in the North East of England in the late eighteenth century. The

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 ...

was developed as dual-purpose, suitable for both dairy and beef production; however, certain blood lines within the breed always emphasised one quality or the other. Over time, these different lines diverged, and by the second half of the twentieth century, two separate breeds had developed – the

Beef Shorthorn The Beef Shorthorn breed of cattle was developed from the Shorthorn breed in England and Scotland around 1820.Friend, John B., Cattle of the World, Blandford Press, Dorset, 1978, The Shorthorn was originally developed as a dual-purpose breed, ...

, and the

Milking Shorthorn The Dairy Shorthorn is a British list of cattle breeds, breed of dairy cattle. It derives from the Shorthorn cattle of Tees-side, in the North Riding of Yorkshire and in Northumbria (now divided between County Durham and Northumberland) in nor ...

. All Shorthorn cattle are coloured red, white, or roan, although roan cattle are preferred by some, and completely white animals are not common. However, one type of Shorthorn has been bred to be consistently white – the

Whitebred Shorthorn Whitebred Shorthorn is a British type of beef cattle originating in north west England and south west Scotland. It is derived from Shorthorn cattle, but is always white, rather than being the range of colours found in other Shorthorns. It has no ...

, which was developed to cross with black

Galloway cattle The Galloway is a Scottish breed of beef cattle, named after the Galloway region of Scotland, where it originated during the seventeenth century. It is usually black, is of average size, is naturally polled and has a thick coat suitable for ...

to produce a popular blue roan crossbreed, the Blue Grey.

History

The breed developed from Teeswater and Durham cattle found originally in the North East of England. In the late eighteenth century, the Colling brothers, Charles and Robert, started to improve the Durham cattle using the selective breeding techniques that Robert Bakewell had used successfully on Longhorn cattle. In 1796, Charles Colling of Ketton Hall, bred the famous

Durham Ox The Durham Ox (March 1796 – 15 April 1807) was a steer who became famous in the early 19th century for his shape, size and weight. He was an early example of what became the Shorthorn breed of cattle and helped establish the standards by which ...

.Friend, John B., ''Cattle of the World'', Blandford Press, Dorset, 1978, The culmination of this breeding program was the birth of the bull Comet, bred by Charles Colling, in 1804. This bull was subsequently sold for 1000 guineas in 1810 at the Brafferton sale, the first 1000-guinea bull ever recorded. Related cattle may have been imported to the United States by Harry Dorsey Gough of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

, Maryland, before 1808.Goff, Phillip. ''The Four Goff Brothers of West Virginia: A New Perspective on Their Lives''
pp. 65 ff
Masthof ( Morgantown), 2003. Accessed 20 October 2013. At the same time, Thomas Bates of Kirklevington and John Booth of Killesby were developing the Teeswater cattle. The Bates cattle were subsequently developed for their milking qualities, whereas the Booth cattle were developed for their beef qualities. Animals taken to Scotland in 1817 from the Booth herd were used to produce the Beef Shorthorn breed. In 1822, George Coates published the first volume of his herd book; this was the first pedigree herd book for cattle in the world.Beef Breeders' Annual, An Inverell Times supplement, Shorthorn breed arrived with the First Fleet, July 2008 Coates published the first four volumes, after which Henry Stafford took over the ownership and publishing of the herd book, retaining the name ''Coates's Herd Book''. The Shorthorn Society of Great Britain and Ireland was founded in 1874, and purchased the copyright of the herd book from Stafford. They have continued to compile and publish ''Coates's Herd Book'' ever since. The ''American Shorthorn Herd Book'' was the first to be published in the United States for any breed and was started in 1846, with the formation of the American Shorthorn Association following 26 years later in 1872. Tibial hemimelia, a rare genetic disorder, was identified in Canada in 1999 in a small number of Shorthorn cattle, all descended from a single individual.Tibial Hemimelia, Meningocele, and Abdominal Hernia in Shorthorn Cattle, J. M. Lapointe, S. Lachance and D. J. Steffen, Veterinary Pathology 37: 508 – 511, 2000
Retrieved on 10 November 2008

Distribution

Today, the breed is found mainly in English-speaking countries, and Southern South America. The main countries are: Argentina, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland, South Africa, United Kingdom, the United States of America, Uruguay, and Zimbabwe.

Beamish Museum Beamish Museum is the first regional open-air museum, in England, located at Beamish, near the town of Stanley, in County Durham, England. Beamish pioneered the concept of a living museum. By displaying duplicates or replaceable items, it wa ...

in north-eastern England preserves the Durham breed.

Australia

Shorthorn cattle were one of the first purebred breeds to be imported into Australia when several cows were brought into New South Wales in 1800. More purebred Shorthorns were imported into NSW in 1825 by Potter McQueen of Scone. Nine months later, the Australian Agricultural Company imported additional Shorthorns, and in the 1930s, Thomas Simpson Hall, the breeder of the

Halls Heeler The Halls Heeler was a dog bred by Thomas Simpson Hall to herd cattle on the Hall family's extensive properties in northwestern New South Wales in the 19th century. On ''Dartbrook Station'', in the Upper Hunter Valley, Hall selectively crossed ...

, imported Durham Shorthorns from which he developed extensive herds of Poll Shorthorns. The breed has a wide genetic base, resulting in the development of several distinct though closely related strains – these are the traditional strains: * Beef Shorthorn * Poll Shorthorn * Durham * Milking or Dairy Shorthorn * Australian Shorthorn The current Shorthorn Society of Australia encompasses the Poll Shorthorn, Australian Shorthorn, and Durham. Shorthorns have contributed to the development of breeds such as the

Belmont Red Belmont Red is a breed of beef cattle developed by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) during 1954 in response to the need in the Australian Tropics for cattle which would improve the fertility of '' Bos indi ...

and

Santa Gertrudis Santa Gertrudis (Spanish equivalent of Saint Gertrude) may refer to: Places Canada * Santa Gertrudis-Boca del Infierno Provincial Park, in British Columbia Mexico * Santa Gertrudis, Coahuila, a town in Coahuila state * Santa Gertrudis, Chihuahua, ...

References

Breed associations

The Shorthorn Society of United Kingdom & Ireland

American Shorthorn Association

Asociacion Argentina de Criadores de Shorthorn

Shorthorn Association of Australia

Canadian Shorthorn Association

Irish Shorthorn Society

New Zealand Shorthorn Association

External links

Cattle breeds: Shorthorn

– Oklahoma State University
Shorthorn Breed Information
– Cattle.com
The Durham Ox
– painting of Comet, a Durham Shorthorn, 1804 {{Authority control Cattle breeds Cattle breeds originating in England