Identify Hereford Cattle
This is an in-depth guide of how to identify Hereford cattle.
Contents
Steps
- Do a search on the Internet or in a Cattle Breeds book for "Herefords".
- Study the pictures and the characteristics of the breed. Note the following:
- Coloration: All Herefords are red and white, with red varying from a deep cherry red to a light buckskin-orange colour. Cattle of this breed will have white running from their faces to behind their ears and down their chest, dewlap and brisket to between their front legs, all along the lower belly, covering the flanks, and end at the point tween their legs. Most will have this white stripe running from the back of their heads to their withers (which is located behind the shoulders on the top of the animal). Some Hereford cattle may have less of a white mane than others; many of the modern Herefords may lack this. Some Herefords will lack white behind and below their ears and behind their jawline; others may have these red side-burns running just behind their ears down to almost their dewlap; still others may lack both these characteristics. Many Hereford cattle may also lack the white running from their chins down to the brisket, and may instead have a bit of red on the upper-middle portion of the chest, with the white starting on their briskets. Some Herefords may also have a red patch or reddish pigment around their eyes. On the back of the ears, there may be a small white patch running from the top of the ear to the bottom, with a lot of white in their ears Others may have a straight-red colouration instead, but retain most of the white in the ears.
- Body type and characteristics: Herefords are not as muscular nor massive as the Continentals like Limousins or Simmentals. They are quite blocky in appearance, but are more smooth down their rump, loin, thighs and shoulders. Bulls are more masculine than cows in this respect, often having more muscle mass in the shoulders, neck and hindquarters than in cows, but this muscle mass is often less defined in Herefords than in Continental breeds like Charolais or Limousin. Herefords also tend to be smaller in frame and body size than many of the more larger breeds, though there are those ranches that may have large Hereford cattle. Hair on Herefords range from short, slick and smooth to short and curly. This breed will also form a thick hairy coat during winter or colder seasons, depending on where they live. Herefords that live further north where snow and winter predominate tend to develop a thicker coat than those that live near the Equator and only experience cool rainy seasons.
- Head characteristics: All Hereford cattle have a white face. Pigmentation can also be noticed around the eyes, and some may also be seen to have a roan-like or speckled face as well, which is often the physical evidence of breeders selecting for more maternal characteristics in the breed. Bulls almost always have curly hair around their foreheads, more so than with cows. Cows and bulls may have a broad forehead, but it's often not as broad as other breeds like Brahmans. Mature adults always have a wide-looking mouth, with the upper lips always overlapping the lips of the bottom jaw. Herefords also have big wide noses too, to accommodate for the width of the top jaw. Cattle come as polled or horned. The horns of bulls and cows, if not corrected with weights, will grow up and forward. If corrected with weights, the horns will grow curving down and towards the inside.
- Other characteristics: Herefords are one of the most highly adaptable breeds of cattle in the world. They can be found as far north as the northern reaches of Alberta or Saskatchewan (Canada), in desert-like conditions like that in Arizona, in tropical climates like that in Brazil and Uruguay, on rough terrain and vegetation like that in South Africa, or on wet and cool climates like the place where they originated from; Great Britain. A Hereford's thick hide, light-and-dark coat color, and ability to live off of grass and hay alone, make it able to adapt so readily to the different climates it lives in. Herefords are known for their great temperament and docility (though there can be some crazy ones too), and because they require little management in terms of feeding, are one of the best breeds to raise on ranch or range-like conditions where most cows are selected to be able to fend for themselves most of the time.
- Prolapses, sun-burnt udders and pinkeye are not a common problem in this breed if cows that have these problems are culled. Herefords are also known to be quite poor milk producers, but if a breeder is willing to do it, this can be fixed as well with more emphasis on maternity qualities such as milking ability, selecting females with higher milking ability to keep, and culling those cows that do not produce as well as those selected as keepers. Many producers in the parts of the world where they are closer to the equator have also been selecting cattle with better eyes and more pigmentation around the eyes so as to reduce incidence of cancer eye and pink eye.
- Memorize the details and characteristics of this breed. This should be pretty easy.
- Go on a field trip or road trip and see if you can find farms or ranches with Hereford cattle. Photography of what you thought were Hereford cattle, and compare them with pictures of Hereford cattle on the Internet and in your Cattle breeds book.
Tips
- Herefords are one of the easiest breeds to recognize and identify. The deep red colour, the white face, and white along the nape or crest of the neck and on the lower portion of these animals are hard to mistake or confuse with other breeds.
- Herefords are found all over, so you may not have to travel far to see your first Hereford cattle herd.
Warnings
- When referring to Hereford cattle, one must remember that Herefords are often referred to those cattle that have the traditional red-and-white colour patterns as described previously. Black Herefords--though they are a breed, and are closely related to the traditional "Red" Herefords--are not true nor purebred Herefords because of the strong Angus influence that has helped make them into the breed they are.
- Note: Black Herefords are commonly known as "Black Baldies," more so than the name "Black Herefords."
- Don't get Herefords confused with Simmentals. Simmentals have some similar markings as Herefords, but all Simmentals lack the white stripe across the top of the neck, and do not have the white on the brisket and dewlap. Simmentals also often lack the white stockings, and the white on the underbelly. Simmentals are also larger and more muscular than Hereford cattle.
