What is a breed?

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Massey135

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What is a breed? by Roy Wallace and Harlan Ritchie
http://beefmagazine.com/mag/beef_breed
"What is a breed? Is there really such a thing as a purebred?

Let's begin by defining what a breed is. The late Hilton Briggs, the quintessential authority on breeds and author of the book, "Modern Breeds of Livestock," defined a breed as: "a group of animals that, as a result of breeding and selection, have certain distinguishable characteristics."

Briggs goes on to define a purebred animal as "an individual both of whose parents are duly registered in a Registry Association."

It's interesting to note that Briggs says nothing about "breed purity" or "percentage of blood" in either definition. If one delves back into livestock history, it can be concluded that very few populations of so-called "purebred" cattle existed. Rather, nearly all breeds were developed by combining various strains of cattle within a region into a generally agreed-upon type.

British breeds

The Shorthorn breed was created by selecting the best of the native, short-horned cattle in northeast England and infusing them with a small amount of Galloway blood. The Hereford breed was developed by infusing the native cattle of Herfordshire in southwest England with Flemish cattle imported from the low countries in Europe.

Shorthorn blood is reported to have been introduced into the Angus breed at an early stage of its existence. And the Red Poll breed originated in the English countries of Norfolk and Suffolk where some Galloway and Devon breeding eventually found its way into the breed.

As near as can be determined, two British breeds appear to have remained free of outside blood — Galloway and West (Scotch) Highland.

Galloway originated in southwest Scotland's Galloway province. When the Romans first populated England, cattle roamed the region's forests. These indigenous cattle became the progenitors of the Galloway. Today, Galloway are recognized as the oldest breed of beef cattle in the British Isles."
The article can be read in full at the above link.
 
What them book types left out of the definition is the ability of the critter to replicate itself with consistency. Ii is well known that it takes 13 gens to purify blood of any creature. That is in big book as well as some Ag folks writings. The purer the animal the better it is at replicating itself.

Bet that last paragraph rubs some black hided folks wrong.
 
Scroote":3g2jqzdz said:
What them book types left out of the definition is the ability of the critter to replicate itself with consistency. Ii is well known that it takes 13 gens to purify blood of any creature. That is in big book as well as some Ag folks writings. The purer the animal the better it is at replicating itself.

Bet that last paragraph rubs some black hided folks wrong.

I guess you have twelve to go; and I mean that white black or pink. Oh wait do not bother, there might be something in the sale barn that will do...
 
Interesting article, thanks for posting! That Harlan Ritchie is a smart one, I do believe he is the one who pioneered the across-breed EPD's.
 
MO_cows":327te3x4 said:
Interesting article, thanks for posting! That Harlan Ritchie is smart one, I do believe he is the one who pioneered the across-breed EPD's.
He's a very smart man. Though many on here won't give him credit bc he's prolly read a book or two :roll: I think within the next decade a common base will be developed and cattle of all breeds will be able to be evaluated on their own merit.
 
I'm sure Roy Wallace could recognize a crossbred Angus bull, he sure bought a few.......
 
ANAZAZI":188wxuz0 said:
Scroote":188wxuz0 said:
What them book types left out of the definition is the ability of the critter to replicate itself with consistency. Ii is well known that it takes 13 gens to purify blood of any creature. That is in big book as well as some Ag folks writings. The purer the animal the better it is at replicating itself.

Bet that last paragraph rubs some black hided folks wrong.

I guess you have twelve to go; and I mean that white black or pink. Oh wait do not bother, there might be something in the sale barn that will do...

Nice try there Bruno! I guess in your cradle to grave socialist utopia society up there, they do not teach how to deliver a good insult. Long winters I suppose suck all the humor out of ya.

I will try to set you up better next time.

Cheery-O!
 
Scroote":24n7kivr said:
ANAZAZI":24n7kivr said:
Scroote":24n7kivr said:
What them book types left out of the definition is the ability of the critter to replicate itself with consistency. Ii is well known that it takes 13 gens to purify blood of any creature. That is in big book as well as some Ag folks writings. The purer the animal the better it is at replicating itself.

Bet that last paragraph rubs some black hided folks wrong.

I guess you have twelve to go; and I mean that white black or pink. Oh wait do not bother, there might be something in the sale barn that will do...

Nice try there Bruno! I guess in your cradle to grave socialist utopia society up there, they do not teach how to deliver a good insult. Long winters I suppose suck all the humor out of ya.

I will try to set you up better next time.


Cheery-O!

Thanks for noticing the insult; even if you missed the humour in it, albeit dry. Taa Taa 4 now! :wave:
 

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