The Swedish Polled, , often abbreviated to SKB, is a Swedish
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
domestic cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, Domestication of vertebrates, domesticated, Bovidae, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos ...
. It was created in 1937 from two different Swedish cattle breeds, the
Swedish Red Polled and the
Fjäll. Breeders did not accept the new classification, and continued to maintain separate bloodlines as before. Of the two constituent breeds, the Swedish Red Polled received official recognition in 2004, while the Fjäll has divided into two sub-breeds, the
Fjällnära Boskap and the
Svensk Fjällras.
History
The Swedish Polled was created in 1937 with the intention of merging the
Swedish Red Polled () with the
Fjällras, a quite different breed of mountain cattle. Breeders did not accept the new classification, and continued to maintain separate bloodlines as before. A
breeders' association
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 ...
, the Sveriges Rödkulleförening, was formed for the Rödkulla in the 1960s, and a similar association, the Föreningen Svensk Fjällrasavel, was established for the Fjäll breed in 1996. In 2004 the Rödkulla received official recognition: a breed number (40) was assigned to it by the
Statens Jordbruksverk, the Swedish board of agriculture. Two different types of Fjäll cattle are reported to
DAD-IS
DAD-IS is the acronym for the Domestic Animal Diversity Information System, a tool developed and maintained by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as a part of its programme for management of animal genetic resources for ...
: the
Fjällnära Boskap and the
Svensk Fjällras.
In 2014 the total number reported for the Swedish Polled was .
Characteristics
The Swedish Polled may be either solid red, or red and white. It is
polled – without horns – and is well adapted to conditions in the mountains of Sweden.
Use
The Swedish Polled is considered a
dairy breed. It constitutes about 0.5% of the national dairy herd.
References
Cattle breeds originating in Sweden
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