The South Devon is a British

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable 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 seve ...

of large

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 originated in the

counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

and

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

in south-west England, and is mentioned from the eighteenth century. It was a dual-purpose breed, kept both for its milk and for beef. Since 1972

selection Selection may refer to: Science * Selection (biology), also called natural selection, selection in evolution ** Sex selection, in genetics ** Mate selection, in mating ** Sexual selection in humans, in human sexuality ** Human mating strat ...

has been for beef only.

History

The South Devon originated in the counties of Devon and Cornwall in south-west England: the earliest mentions of it are from the eighteenth century. How it developed is not known; one theory is that it arose from

cross-breeding A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. A domestic animal of unknown ancestry, where the breed status of only one parent or grandparent is known, may also be called a crossbreed though ...

between local

stock and

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

cattle such as the

Alderney Alderney ( ; ; ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependencies, Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-largest isla ...

. Unlike other British breeds, the South Devon carries the gene for haemoglobin B, which is also present in the Channel Island breeds. The South Devon Herd Book Society of England was formed, and published the first edition of the herdbook in 1891. Some were exported to the United States in either 1936 or 1969,, and then again in 1974. 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 ...

was formed in 1972.

Characteristics

The South Devon is a large breed: bulls stand on average at the

withers Withers are the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, this ridge is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, catt ...

, cows some less. The coat is curly and light red in colour; the cattle are both larger and paler than other British breeds of red cattle. They may be either horned or polled; the horns are yellowish or white, and downward-curved.

Use

Until the early part of the nineteenth century the South Devon was a triple-purpose animal, kept for its milk, for meat and for draught work. Thereafter it was a dual-purpose breed, valued for its

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

qualities while the quality of the carcase was not high. In the early twentieth century, the average milk yield was over kg per

lactation Lactation describes the secretion of milk from the mammary glands and the period of time that a mother lactates to feed her young. The process naturally occurs with all sexually mature female mammals, although it may predate mammals. The process ...

; a good cow might give kg, and at least one reached kg. In 1974 the average lactation yield was kg, with a

fat In nutrition science, nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such chemical compound, compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specif ...

content of 4.19%; some cows exceeded kg. The conformation of the udder was not well suited to mechanical milking, and from 1972

was for beef only. It is a large and fast-growing breed. In 1974 the average weight of bullocks at 400 days was , with an average height at the

of ; some animals reached more than in that time. In the twenty-first century the daily weight gain of bullocks in the first 400 days is approximately . Approximately 37% of the population carries the 11-bp

genetic mutation In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, mitosis ...

which causes

bovine muscular hypertrophy Myostatin (also known as growth differentiation factor 8, abbreviated GDF8) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''MSTN'' gene. Myostatin is a myokine that is produced and released by myocytes and acts on muscle cells to inhibit muscle ...

(or more properly

hyperplasia Hyperplasia (from ancient Greek ὑπέρ ''huper'' 'over' + πλάσις ''plasis'' 'formation'), or hypergenesis, is an enlargement of an organ or tissue caused by an increase in the amount of Tissue (biology), organic tissue that results from ...

), which in the area of origin of the breed is known as "buffalo". In affected animals this has the expected beneficial influence on carcase yield, and the expected detrimental effects on meat quality and on ease of calving.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:South Devon Cattle Cattle breeds originating in England Environment of Devon