The British White is a naturally polled British

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 cattle

Cattle

Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...

 breed, white with black or red points, used mainly for beef. It has a confirmed history dating back to the 17th century, and may be derived from similar cattle kept in parks for many centuries before that.

Characteristics

The British White has shortish white hair, and has dark points – usually black, but sometimes red. The coloured points include the ears, feet, eyelids, nose and often even teats. It is naturally polled

Polled livestock

Polled livestock are livestock without horns, of species that normally have them. The term refers both to breeds or strains which are naturally polled through selective breeding and also to naturally horned animals which have been dehorned...

 (hornless), medium-sized and compactly built. There may be some coloured spots on the body fur, and the skin beneath the fur is usually coloured (grey or reddish), or pink with coloured spots. The colour-pointed pattern is found in many unrelated cattle breeds throughout the world – it is an extreme pale form of the similarly widespread colour-sided

Colour-sided

Colour-sided is a colour pattern of domesticated cattle. It is sometimes called linebackIt consists of a dark body colour, with white finching along the spine, white under the belly, and often white also over the tail, head and legs. The ears, nose and feet are generally dark...

or lineback pattern.

The red-pointed variant shows in about two percent of British Whites, but since red colouration is genetically recessive to black in cattle, many of the black-pointed animals also carry the red allele

Allele

An allele is one of two or more forms of a gene or a genetic locus . "Allel" is an abbreviation of allelomorph. Sometimes, different alleles can result in different observable phenotypic traits, such as different pigmentation...

.

The colour-pointed pattern shows strongly in crosses with other breeds, often with additional dark spotting if the other parent was solid-coloured. As in other cattle the polled characteristic is dominant over horns, so first crosses are also polled.

The breed is hardy and thrifty, and the animals readily graze

Grazing

Grazing generally describes a type of feeding, in which a herbivore feeds on plants , and also on other multicellular autotrophs...

 rough vegetation such as rush

Juncus

Juncus is a genus in the plant family Juncaceae. It consists of some 200 to 300 or more species of grassy plants commonly called rushes...

es, nettle

Nettle

Nettles constitute between 24 and 39 species of flowering plants of the genus Urtica in the family Urticaceae, with a cosmopolitan though mainly temperate distribution. They are mostly herbaceous perennial plants, but some are annual and a few are shrubby...

s or heather

Erica

Erica ,the heaths or heathers, is a genus of approximately 860 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. The English common names "heath" and "heather" are shared by some closely related genera of similar appearance....

, and they keenly browse

Browsing (predation)

Browsing is a type of herbivory in which an herbivore feeds on leaves, soft shoots, or fruits of high growing, generally woody, plants such as shrubs. This is contrasted with grazing, usually associated with animals feeding on grass or other low vegetation...

 many trees and shrubs. They rarely have calving difficulties.

Uses

Like many other traditional breeds, the British White was formerly a dual-purpose animal, producing both beef

Beef

Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...

 and milk

Milk

Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...

, but the modern focus for the breed is for beef production. Beef animals are normally reared wholly or mainly on grass pasture. The dual-purpose heritage means that many of the cows are good milk producers, allowing their calves to grow very well.

British Whites are able to thrive on very poor pasture such as marshland and heathland, making them suitable for conservation grazing

Conservation grazing

Conservation grazing is the use of semi-feral or domesticated grazing livestock to maintain and increase the biodiversity of natural or semi-natural grasslands, heathlands, wood pasture, wetlands and many other habitats....

 – managing natural pasture habitats of high nature conservation value.

British White bulls are sometimes used for crossing with dairy cattle, especially for first-calf heifers. The hybrid offspring are normally reared for beef, but due to the British White's dual purpose history some may be suitable for incorporation into the dairy herd.

History

White cattle (often with black or red ears) are believed to have been highly regarded in Britain and Ireland in very early times, and herds of white cattle were kept as ornamental and sporting animals in enclosed parks for many centuries. These park cattle included both horned and polled individuals – they gave rise to the horned White Park

White Park

The White Park is a rare breed of horned cattle with ancient herds preserved in Great Britain.-Description:...

 cattle, and contributed to the polled British White. However, British Whites are not as genetically distinct from other British breeds as White Parks are, and so there is some doubt about their exact origins; other breeds such as Shorthorn

Shorthorn

The Shorthorn breed of cattle originated in the North East of England in the late 18th century. The breed was developed as dual purpose, suitable for both dairy and beef production; however there were always certain blood lines within the breed which emphasised one quality or the other...

 may have contributed to their development.

These cattles were kept in the Park of Whalley Abbey

Whalley Abbey

Whalley Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey in Whalley, Lancashire, England. After the dissolution of the monasteries, the abbey was largely demolished and a country house was built on the site. In the 20th century the house was modified and it is now the Retreat and Conference House of the...

, in the Forest of Bowland

Forest of Bowland

The Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells, is an area of barren gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland, mostly in north-east Lancashire, England. A small part lies in North Yorkshire, and much of the area was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire...

 near Clitheroe

Clitheroe

Clitheroe is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley in Lancashire, England. It is 1½ miles from the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists in the area. It has a population of 14,697...

. After that time the major portion of the herd was moved to Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

, in the early 19th century. This herd was sold off in small lots, largely to nobility in the surrounding countryside, and formed the basis of the British White breed. By the early 20th century these cattle had declined to about 130 registered animals, mainly in the eastern counties of England. By the end of the 20th century numbers had grown to over 1,500 registered animals in the UK and perhaps 2,500 in the US, as well as many in other parts of the world such as Australia. The UK Rare Breeds Survival Trust

Rare Breeds Survival Trust

The Rare Breeds Survival Trust is a conservation charity, whose purpose is to secure the continued existence and viability of the United Kingdom’s native farm animal genetic resources...

 lists it as a "minority" breed.

Breed organisations

In Britain, pedigrees are now maintained by the British White Cattle Society, although in the past British Whites and White Parks formed different sections in the same herdbook. The British White Cattle Society of Australia governs the breed in that country.

In North America the breed is represented by two separate societies, the British White Cattle Association of America and the
American British White Park Association (confusingly the latter does not cover the horned White Park).

Similar breeds

• The White Park
  White Park
  The White Park is a rare breed of horned cattle with ancient herds preserved in Great Britain.-Description:...
  
   is very similar to the British White, being white with black or red points, but with white, dark-tipped horns. It is more rangy, and usually has somewhat less spotting and less dark on the points. Related, similarly-coloured types include the Chillingham
  Chillingham Cattle
  Chillingham Cattle are a breed of cattle that live in a large enclosed park at Chillingham Castle, Northumberland, England. This rare breed consists of about 90 animals in Chillingham, which inhabit a very large park that has existed since the Middle Ages...
  
   and Vaynol cattle.
• Swedish Mountain or Fjäll
  Fjäll cattle
  Fjäll cattle , commonly known as the "Swedish Mountain breed", is a breed of cattle, established in the late 19th century.In 1998, there was estimated to be 1000 breeding cows in Sweden....
  
   cattle, a dairy type, may be colour-pointed.
• The Irish Moiled
  Irish Moiled
  The Irish Moiled is a rare cattle breed from Ireland. It is a dual-purpose breed, producing both beef and milk. It originated in County Leitrim, County Sligo, and County Donegal, but the breed is now found throughout in Northern Ireland...
  
   is a red colour-sided traditional breed from Northern Ireland
  Northern Ireland
  Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
  
  , – it may be white with red points, but it is more lightly built and of somewhat more dairy type than most British Whites.
• The Belgian Blue
  Belgian Blue
  thumb|right|Belgian Blue bullthumb|right|Belgium Blue cow with the scars from [[caesarean sections]] clearly visible.Belgian Blue cattle are a beef breed from Belgium, known in French as . Alternative names include Belgian Blue-White, Belgian White and Blue Pied, Belgian White Blue, Blue and Blue...
  
   (and its crosses) is often largely white with grey ears, but this heavily muscled, intensive beef breed is of very different type to the British White.
• Holstein cattle may be nearly all-white, and such cattle sometimes have black ear tips; again these intensive dairy cattle are of very different type to the British White.
• The White Galloway is a colour variety of the Galloway
  Galloway cattle
  The Galloway is one of the world's longest established breeds of beef cattle, named after the Galloway region of Scotland, where it originated. It is now found in many parts of the world....
  
  with dark points.

External links

• The British White Cattle Society, UK
• America:
  • British White Cattle Association Of America (polled: British Whites)
  • The American British White Park Association (polled: British Whites)
  • The Ancient White Park Cattle Association (horned: White Parks)
• The British White Cattle Society of Australia
• Halliburton Farms
• British White Cattle/White Park Cattle Similarities
• BWT Ranch
• J.West Cattle Company
• Recommended Reading - British White Cattle - Ancient Breed History, Literary & Historical References
• Shumard Oak Farmstead - American British White Park Cattle
• Oklahoma University breed descriptions:
  • White Park
  • British White
  • American White Park