Red Devon Cattle In New Zealand

Red Devon Cattle Farming is of the nature that once you have had red devons you grow to love their quiet temperment and docile nature. The bonus is that they are fast maturing which means money on the hook sooner. There are many attributes that make the Red Devon breed something worth looking into.

The Red Devon Cattle are widely known for their ability to forage, algility and maintain weight and continue to grow even when they are short of grass. They have amazing constitution that most other breeds don't have. Their growth rate makes them stand out. To clarify clearly that growth rate doesn't mean lots of grass. It is the ability to convert feed to muscle and comes from skilled breeding.

Like all breeds of cattle, the need for skilled breeding plans for a beast with good hieght, length and easy to calve, which means small heads and smooth shoulders, is a must. When cattle are structually sound, well bred, the calve should pop out easily, have small deer like feet, nice baggy coat, and then grow like mushrooms.

When setting out to buy a Red Devon Sire don't disregard the type of cattle you are aiming to produce i.e. either early maturing vealers through to later maturing bullocks for the export trade.

At the same time consider the major faults of your cow herd and seek to rectify these problems, or at minimum don't increase them, through the careful selection of your Red Devon Bull.

For example...if you own a herd of large framed later maturing cows that lack muscle and thickness, and you are aiming to produce vealers for the local markets, then the sire you choose would need to be earlier maturing with above average muscle expression. Red Devon Cattle are an excellent cross and much thought should be imposed upon when choosing good cattle.

The first question to ask is there a certain trait or problem you want to get rid of like, need more height, more beef on the rump, smaller head, smoother shoulder for easy calving etc...

Nothing worse than having to pull calves, or cattle that don't grow. So when choosing you bull bear that in mind...you focus is to progress forwards. Each year you want to be making one step closer to your end goal...

It doesn't matter if you have a Jersey, Fresian, Limo, South Devon, Angus, Ershire herd a Red Devon Bull can benefit you. You want growth rate for faster maturing, small heads and smooth shoulders for easy calving. You know the sort you don't have to watch all night because the cows are quite able to push out the calves because the have small heads and smooth shoulders.