Milking Shorthorn Cattle: Heritage Livestock Breeds

Shorthorn Cattle are a heritage livestock breed known for their milk production. These milking cows are known for their strength and self-reliance, commonly giving unassisted births and giving milk with higher protein content. Often called Durhams, Shorthorns were brought to the New World very early and valued for meat, milk, and draft. The first documented import occurred in 1783 to Virginia, where the cows were praised as remarkable milkers. Durham steers were especially valued as oxen. Shorthorns were frequently imported for the next fifty years, although the first import to Canada was not made until 1825.

In North America, a distinction was often made between English Shorthorns of Bates or Booth breeding and Scottish Shorthorns of Cruickshank bloodlines. In 1852, there was an important importation of Duchess line Bates cattle, known for their milking ability, followed by continued selections from the best of the English Shorthorns. Later in the nineteenth century, the emphasis was on the Cruickshank or Scotch Shorthorn, known for its heavy meat production.

Among the progressive Shorthorn breeders were the Shaker communities in Kentucky and Ohio who sought to improve the local cattle. In 1811, the Shakers purchased a valuable, purebred Shorthorn bull aptly renamed Shaker. Twenty years later, Henry Clay and the Shakers imported the bull Orizimbo for the staggering sum of one thousand dollars. The first American herd book was issued in 1846. Just ten years later, the Shakers at Pleasant Hill, Kentucky, owned the largest registered herd of Shorthorns in the United States. These cows were milked and averaged 8 gallons daily. Butter and cheese were shipped by river to city markets. Beef calves were also raised for community use and for market.

The American Shorthorn Breeder’s Association was formed in 1882, registering and promoting both the meat and milk types, although the Scottish Shorthorns were coming into greater demand to increase meatiness. Solid red became the fashionable color, perhaps because roan or speckled cows resembled the much-maligned Texas Longhorn. The Peoples’ Farm and Stock Cyclopedia of 1885 decried this trend as “foolish,” especially castigating the breeders who castrated “animals that possessed every valuable point except the one of color.” Unfortunately, many of the dairy-type Shorthorns were not solid red in color.