Angus

Angus is a breed of black, polled beef cattle, for several years called Aberdeen Angus, originating in Northeastern Scotland. Its origins are unknown, however the breed looks to be connected to the curly-coated Galloway, which is sometimes referred to be Britain's oldest breed. The breed was greatly improved, and the current kind of cow was established early in the nineteenth century by a number of creative breeders, the most well-known of whom were William McCombie and Hugh Watson.

Polled head, black colour, low-set and compact body, exquisite grade of meat, and high dressing % are among of the breed's distinguishing characteristics. The Angus is a top-tier beef breed, and for years, purebred or crossbred Angus steers have won top honours at the most prestigious fat-stock exhibitions in the United States and the Great Britain. This breed was introduced into the US in 1873, and after that date, its influence has spread widely there and in other countries.

Characteristic Features of Angus

Naturally, the Aberdeen Angus cattle are polled and can be either in red or black in colour. Although black is the dominant colour, white may appear on the udder occasionally.

They are robust to the elements, adaptable, undemanding, and sociable, mature early, and produce a large carcass with beautifully marbled meat. Angus are renowned as the carcass breed. Crossbreeding is extensively utilised to enhance carcass quality and milking performance. On the other side, the Angus females calve easily and contain good calf rearing ability. They're also used as a genetic dehorner because the polled gene is handed down as a dominant trait.

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A Black Angus bull or the Black Angus cow is shown above.

Within the breed, a strain called Red Angus cow has gained in popularity since the mid-20th Century, specifically for purposes of crossbreeding and outcrossing. The Brangus, a cross between Brahman and Angus cattle, is known for its heat resistance. The Australian Lowline Cattle were developed from the Aberdeen Angus herd. These are also called Australian lowline, lowline Angus or Angus bulls.

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The above image shows an Angus grazing

Physical Characteristics of Angus Cattle

The characteristic features of the Angus breed are given here. 

• They have a black hue, a polled head, a low-set and compact body, good meat quality, and a high dressing percentage.

• Naturally, the Angus are polled and solid red or black in color. The actual color of this breed is given as black, but very recently, red colors have emerged. And, in the United States, both black and red Angus cow are regarded as two separate breeds. Whereas, in the United Kingdom, these two breeds are registered in similar herd books.

• Nowadays, the Angus breed is available and raised in several countries across the world. Maybe, the udder of these cows are white.

• The Angus is relatively small in stature to that of the other cattle breeds. The average market weight of this breed ranges from 1000-1300 pounds. These cows weigh an average of 550 kg, while the bulls can weigh up to 850kg, having a high muscle content.

• Their frame is classed as average-sized and usually, they are of good behavior and have a relatively calm temperament. Both Angus cows and bulls are relatively very easy to care. 

History

The Aberdeen Angus breed (or the Angus, because it is known internationally) was developed in the early part of the 19th Century from the polled and it is predominantly black cattle of North East Scotland, which is locally known as "hummlies" and "doddies." As with the other breeds of sheep and cattle in Britain, establishment followed the improvements in transport and husbandry. The first families date from the mid-eighteenth century, although the Herd Book (1862) and the Society (1879) were formed considerably later. Breed's early history is then defined as the history of its progressive lairds, breeders and farmers, of whom three were outstanding.

In 1808, Hugh Watson became a tenant of Keillor in Angus. He has gathered stock widely and produced cattle of character and outstanding quality. Hugh Watson could be considered as the founder of the breed and was instrumental in the view of selecting the best black and polled animals for his herd. The Old Jock, a bull born in 1842 and sired by Grey-Breasted Jock, was his favourite.

When it was founded, the old Jock was given the number "1" in the Scotch Herd Book. The other famous animal owned by Watson was an elderly cow named Old Granny, who was born in 1824 and lived to reach 35 years old, producing 29 calves. A huge majority of Angus cattle alive today can trace their pedigrees back to these two particular animals.

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Clark Angus Ranch

William McCombie came from a graziers family and was dealing in large numbers of cattle in early life. In 1824, he purchased the Tillyfour farm in Aberdeenshire and started a herd of Keillor cattle. His well-documented close breeding has produced outstanding cattle, which he showed in France and England to establish the breed's reputation.

Sir George Macpherson-Grant returned from Oxford in 1861 to his ancestral estate at Ballindalloch, on the River Spey, and began developing our breed, which would be his life's work for over 50 years. Both Macpherson and McCombie-Grant became Members of Parliament.

By the line selection and breeding for type, the early pioneers have established in Angus, Speyside, Aberdeenshire and the Laigh of Moray, the greatest of beef breeds. Stock from this particular area continued to lead the breed well into the 20th Century while Aberdeen-Angus cattle have became spread throughout England, Scotland and Ireland.

Now, the Black Angus or the black angus cow is said to be the most popular beef breed of cattle in the United States, having 324,266 animals registered in 2005.

Statistics

• Calving ease and the vigorous, live calves - The Angus cow consistently delivers a calf, which hits the ground running, with a little assistance required. The calf's drive to get up and suck in the first few minutes after birth is greater, as is the Angus mothering instinct.

• Superb mothers, having superior milking ability - The Angus cow can be renowned for her maternal traits, calving ability and ease in producing milk a calf each year that exceeds more than half her body weight. An Angus mother will put her all into her calf by producing an abundance of milk right up to the weaning.

• Early maturity, stayability and fertility - The Angus cow does her job very well, whether it is her 1st or her 14th calf. With Angus, stayability (a cow's ability to continue to have calves) is more than a buzzword; it's not uncommon for 12-year-old and 13-year-old Angus cows to be productive.

• Naturally polled - No dehorning is needed with Angus cattle as they carry a highly heritable and natural polled gene. Horns can cause tearing and bruising and good animal care is the other reason to choose Angus.

• No cancer eye or the sunburned udders - The dark skin and udders of the black and red Angus breed of cattle mean that the sunburned udders are rarely a problem. In the same way, the cancer eye is not prevalent in Angus cattle.

• Adaptable to all the weather conditions - Angus thrives under all weather conditions with minimal maintenance.

• Superior feed conversion - One of the recent studies of crossbred cow types has demonstrated that Angus-cross were among the most efficient ones, providing the higher net returns on investment.

Types of Angus Breed 

There exist two types of Angus, which are distinguished here.

Black Angus

The Black Angus or the Black Angus cow is given as a large polled breed of beef cattle having a solid black color, with a compact and short body. Black Angus cow or beef is popular with the ranchers due to its ease of keeping and the large amount of meat produced. A number of byproducts can also be made from the hooves, bone, fatty and hide acids. These byproducts include baseball gloves, gelatin, cosmetics, shampoo and crayons. The Black Angus cattle breed has originated in Scotland in the mid of 1800s. Producers are able to use 98 percent of the bodies of beef cattle breed, either for the meat or the other byproducts.

Red Angus

The Red Angus breed of cattle has exact similar origins as the Aberdeen Angus. Red Angus cattle have the same shape as Aberdeen Angus cattle, being medium-sized with a meaty carcass. It has a red coat and coloured skin, is naturally polled, and the red coat colour is carried down to the calves when crossed. Red Angus cattle females that reach puberty at a young age are highly fertile and are renowned for their longevity in the herd. Red Angus females contain excellent milk production and hold a strong maternal instinct. Red Angus breed of cattles are considered by the breeders to be gentle-natured and easy cattle to work with. This breed produces a highly desired carcass having the meat being of superb quality, which is due to the intramuscular marbling. 

Rebirth of "Red" Angus

Various cattlemen throughout the US have understood the reds' outstanding values. In 1945, the first of these cattlemen started selecting and breeding the reds, cropped from the best black Aberdeen Angus cow herds in America. By 1954, a sufficient count of herds had been established to form a breeder's organization called the "Red Angus Association of America."

With a temporary headquarters in Wyoming and Sheridan, seven innovative cattle breeders have created the Red Angus cow Association as the first performance breed registry of the United States. In 1954 - August, the first president of the Association, Waldo Forbes, Sr., ha summed up this vision of the founding members:

• "The Red Angus Association's aim is to oppose more artificial techniques in purebred cattle production and to put its confidence in objective testing, which consist mostly of comparisons within herds of characteristics of proven heredity and recognised economic relevance." By making this an integral part of the registration system, Red Angus breeders will feel that even faster progress can be made towards the ultimate goal of much efficient beef production."

• From the beginning, the performance data was needed for registration for all cattle. Whereas the ultimate goal was to initiate a system to objectively evaluate and select the cattle based on the traits of economic importance.