Red Poll Cattle - Dual Purpose Cattle

History

Red Poll Cattle were first imported into New Zealand in 1898, from England. The breed was evolved from a cross between a Norfolk and a Suffolk in the early 1800's. Heroditus mentions red and hornless cattle in ancient Seythia Polled means no horns and pollness is a dominant gene so any first cross is always polled. Originally they were considered a dual purpose breed, that is for milk and beef.

Overview

They are uniformly red & polled, of medium size - similar to all British breeds.  Because of their milking ability they produce a fast growing calf.

The beef is fine grained & has won the competition in Australia for the last 2 years for the most tasty and tender beef as judged by a consumer panel. The cow is an ideal mother with easy calving ability. For these reasons the bulls are used as dairy beef sires.

Red Polls are still milked in England - the milk has a small fat globule so is the next best to goat's milk if people are allergic to cow's milk. Very docile.

Description
  • RED: Distinctive deep red colour with good eye and udder pigmentation avoids sunburn problems. No cancer eye.
  • POLL: Natural poll avoids carcass bruising and handling problems.
  • MEDIUM SIZE: of the breed combined with rapid calf growth rate makes Red Pod cows extremely productive relative to fodder intake or area of pasture required.
  • FORAGING ABILITY: Good legs and walking capacity have made Red Poll at home in the semi-arid zones of South and Western Australia, the big country of Northland, Taihape, Taumarunui and Southland, or the plains of Canterbury and Middlemarch.
  • LONGEVITY: Red Poll cows frequently have 15 calves or more, and, consequently, fewer breeder re- placements are required and a profitable local market can be established for surplus heifers.
  • MOTHERING ABILITY of the Red Poll female is unsurpassed by cows of any other breed. Calves are suckled until 9 or 10 months old for the vealer trade without difficulty.
  • DOCILITY of both cows and bulls is legendary.
  • CALVING EASE from 24 months (depending upon supervision and heifer development) minimises the number of assisted births and ensures extremely high five calving percentages every year.
  • HIGH MILK PRODUCTION of the Red Poll cow with excellent butterfat content guarantees a rapid growth rate for calves and ample finishing capacity for vealer production.
  • EASY CARE Red Poll cows with low replacement requirements and low veterinary support costs make ideal mothers for use in either purebred or crossbred programmes.
Advantages

Extremely versatile - found in many countries - do not have diseases such as cancer eye, branchynathia, mannadosis - withstand heat - hardy - ideal for crossbreeding - progeny all polled. Docile- Have flat bone which is correlated to tender meat.

BREED SUITABILITY for SMALL BLOCKS

Ideal, being polled, docile, with an ability to thrive and maintain body weight under dry conditions - easy calving - progeny always polled for easy handling.

MARKET

Strong demand at present. Purchase price similar to other breeds. Meat ideal for the freezer. Yield better than eye appraisal estimate.

Contacts

Contacts for Red Poll Cattle:

Secretary:

Mrs Ann McSweeney
146 Arundel-Belfield Road,
R D 22
Geraldine, 7992