- published: 07 Aug 2012
- views: 30058
Angus cattle (Aberdeen Angus) are a breed of cattle commonly used in beef production. They were developed from cattle native to the counties of Aberdeenshire and Angus in Scotland, and are known as Aberdeen Angus in most parts of the world.
They are naturally polled (do not have horns) and solid black or red, although the udder may be white. There have always been both red and black individuals in the population, and in the USA they are regarded as two separate breeds - Red Angus and Black Angus. Black Angus is the most popular beef breed of cattle in the United States, with 324,266 animals registered in 2005.
For some time before the 1800s, the hornless cattle in Aberdeenshire and Angus were called Angus doddies. Hugh Watson can be considered the founder of the breed; he was instrumental in selecting the best black, polled animals for his herd. His favorite bull was Old Jock, who was born 1842 and sired by Grey-Breasted Jock. Grey-Breasted Jock was given the number "1" in the Scottish Herd Book when it was founded. Another of Watson's notable animals was a cow, Old Granny, which was born in 1824 and said to have lived to 35 years of age and to have produced 29 calves. The pedigrees of the vast majority of Angus cattle alive today can be traced back to these two animals. With the exception of Black Meg 43, more Angus cattle trace back to her, than any other single cow of the breed, and is considered by some as the founder of the breed.
Angus (Scottish Gaelic: Aonghas) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross and Dundee City. Main industries include agriculture and fishing.
Angus was historically a county (known officially as Forfarshire from the 18th century until 1928, when it reverted to its ancient name) until 1975 when it became a district of the Tayside Region. In 1996, two-tier local government was abolished and Angus was established as one of the replacement single-tier Council Areas. The former county had borders with Kincardineshire to the north-east, Aberdeenshire to the north and Perthshire to the west. Southwards, it faced Fife across the Firth of Tay. The boundaries of the present council area are exactly the same as those of the old county minus the City of Dundee.
Areas similar to that of the council area are covered by the Angus Westminster constituency for the UK Parliament and the area is also represented at the Scottish Parliament by both the Angus and North Tayside Holyrood constituencies.