Red Angus

Like most of our modern Amencan beef breeds, the Red Angus has its beginning in the mother country - the British Isles. In tracing the origin of the red type of Angus. we must turn hack the pages of the eighth century.

According to some authorities, hardy Norsemen raiding the coasts of England and Scotland brought with them a small, dun-colored, horn-less cattle. In time these cattle interbred with black native Celtic cattle of inland Scotland, which has upright horns A naturallv polled black breed was produced. This breed roughly corresponded to the Black Aberdeen Angus of today, although it was a considerably smaller-bodied animal. The polled characteristic was very slow to spread inland and for almost a thousand years was confined principally to the coastal areas of England and Scotland.

Eric L C. Pentercost, the noted English breeder of Red Angus cattle. offers a specific and logical explanation for the introduction of the red coloration into the Aberdeen-Angus breed. He traces it to the usage of the Norfolk System of husbandry in Scotland in the eighteenth century. The black Scottish cattle were too light to provide sufficiently large draught oxen. Accordingly, larger English longhorns. predominantlv red in color. were brought in and crossed with the black native polled breed.

The resultant offspring were all black polled animals. since black is a dominant color and red a recessive one. However, all carried the red gene and subsequent interbreeding produced an average of one red calf in four. in accordance with Mendel's law of Heredity.

Undoubtedly, the cross-breeding referred to bv Pentercost increased the number of animals carrrying the red gene in the breed. therefore increasing the chance of the purebred blacks producing red calves, Summarizing this rule of genetics. we find. black, possessing no red gene. when mated with red, results in black offspring. black being the dominant color and red the recessive color. red calves occur when: · both parents are red · one parent is red and the other black. but carrying a red gene · both parents are black, but each carrying a red gene. This third situation is the case when red calves appear in purebred black breeds, such as the black Aberdeen-Angus The chances are one-in-four for production of a red calf when two blacks carrying red genes are mated.

Early in the development of the Aberdeen-Angus, Hugh Watson of Keillor. Scotland, arbitrarily decided that black was the proper color for the breed and thereby started a fashion. He might well have chosen red instead. Leon j. Cole and Sara V H Jones of the University of Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station published a pamphlet in 1920 on "The Occurrence of Red Calves in Black Breeds of Cattle" which contains this pertinent paragraph:

"One more point should be emphasized,namely that the red individuals appearing in -such stock (Aberdeen-Angus) are just as truly purebred as their black relatives and there is no reason why, in all respects save color, they should not be fully as valuable The fact that they are discarded while the blacks are retained is simply due to the turn of fortune that blacks rather than red became the established fashion for the Aberdeen-Angus breed Had red been the chosen color, there would never have been any trouble with the appearance of blacks as offcolor individuals, since red-to-red breeds true"

The preceding paragraph written more than three decades prior to the establishment of the Red Angus Association of America, shows a true appreciation of the basic strength of the reds This is emphasized by current efforts in Britain to revive the red breed.

It is interesting to note that an early English husbandry man, Leonard Mascal, writing on The Government of Cattle in 1662 (from the standpoint of selling), described a desirable animal for fattening in this manner his hooves and claws on his feet to be large and broad under foot, his tail long, well-haired and to be brief, his body thick and short, his color to be red or black is best.

The first Aberdeen-Angus herdbook. published in 1862 in Scotland, entered 1)0th reds and blacks without distinction This practice is continued in England and Scotland today The Aberdeen-Angus was introduced into America in the 1880 s and soon attained high popularity The first two American herd books. published in 1886 and 1888 respectively, made no record as to color of individual animals. In 1890, twenty--two reds were registered in the American Aberdeen-Angus Herdbook of some 2,700 individuals entered that year Finally the reds and other colors were barred from registration altogether after 1917.

This severe discrimination against the red color in an effort to assure a pure black strain brought a marked decline in the number of red calves dropped in the American herds. It is estimated on good authority' that presently, only one out of every 500 Aberdeen-Angus calves dropped is red.

Meanwhile, the Red Angus had all but vanished as a breed in Britain by the beginning of World War II One of two existing red Aberdeen-Angus herds had been exported to Argentina and the other was dispersed Realizing the great potential value of the red Aberdeen-Angus. Mr. Pentercost collected the few remaining animals left in Britain and began a revival of the breed by building up a herd In the interim, the breed also continued to flourish in Argentina from the herd imported earlier in the century from Britain.

Today, Argentine breeders are turning to America in quest of Red Angus bulls to further improve and expand their herds. In fact the growing popularity' of the breed is bringing worldwide demands for breeding stock from Australia and especially from South American countries where the majority of the cattle are red in color Various cattlemen throughout the United States also understood the outstanding value of the reds. In 1945 the first of these cattlemen started selecting and breeding reds cropped in the best black Aberdeen-Angus herds in America By 1958, a sufficient number of herds had been established to for a breeders' organization known as the "Red Angus Association of America" with temporary headquarters in Sheridan, WY.

Red Angus are extraordinary in that they are a "ready-made" and established breed of cattle. Their homozygous recessive red gene has the advantage of always producing red offspring when bred to Red Angus or to other basically red breeds The red color reflects sunlight better than black, so the red Angus is less susceptible to heat in the tropics Breeders in the hot countries, using Afrikander and other Brahman-type red native cattle have a cogent reason for desiring red hulls for crossbreeding. Red Angus bulls offer unusual possibilities in the cross-breeding of Herefords and Shorthorn females, as such crosses produce a polled animal, showing strong Angus quality' and keeping the red color In more recent times the practice of crossing Red Angus bulls on commercial Hereford cows has given rise to the economically sound and popular production of "Red Baldies".

The Red Angus breed is less affected by Pinkeye and insects than many other breeds Carcass-quality, absence of cancer eye and sunburned udders, the polled characteristic. solid color and general vigor are all natural assets of the Red Angus breed Easier calving because of the comparatively smaller calves at birth and the milking ability of cows are well-known strong points of the breed. From within this potential heritage, the effort is to produce the best balanced and early maturing animals, including consideration of their gain efficiency.

The future of the breed as a better beef animal is unlimited. provided it is properly handled and managed The survival of the Red Angus. despite the most determined efforts to eliminate it, seems to be nature's own way of saying, 'Here is a noble breed that will never die, destined to increase and flourish It shall cover the grazing lands of the earth and forever enrich the husbandry of mankind".

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