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British White Cattle are predominantly white with black points, though the red-pointed calf is born as is the line-backed pattern that dates back to ancient cave paintings, man's earliest visual records. British White cattle are very docile, unlike any other breed of cattle. From their birth, breeders of British White cattle can discern the likely temperament of their calves, and the range is generally from at a minimum no flight zone to the maximum temperament of one so gentle and curious they come to you in the pasture. Their calm demeanor is always a source of comment to visitors, as is their unique beauty -- traits that most likely inspired and perpetuated ancient Celtic lore and legend that immortalize the 'milk white cow' and predate the written word.
As a breeder of polled British White cattle I've often been asked "What is the difference between the White Park and the British White?" I couldn't answer and found myself stumbling, as I knew Britain's White Park Cattle Society quite oddly declares no relationship to the polled British White, yet the information currently available in essays and articles on the polled British White and the horned White Park reflects much of the same lore and legend. They share this lore and legend because both varieties of park cattle were present in the British Isles since 'time immemorial'. In Wild, White Cattle" (p.36) by James Edmund Harting (c.1880), it is clear that at the onset of the Middle Ages there were polled herds, horned herds with a variety of shape and length, herds with both red and black color points, and herds with both wild and tame disposition.
The original founding Park Cattle Society dates back to 1918 and encompassed all white park cattle, polled or horned within the United Kingdom.
Besides the domesticated polled British White and horned White Park herds that are thriving today, there exists a small group of horned cattle commonly referred to as the Chillingham Ancient White Park. The horned Chillingham herd of White Park cattle is advertised and postulated to be representative of the true feral (wild) white park animal and as having DNA confirmed kinship with the ancient aurochs that preceded domesticated cattle breeds of today. In actual fact..........
". . .Although both the late president and the patron have quoted genetic work done on the cattle to support their arguments, the zoological reports in fact make it quite clear that the Chillingham herd does not have any special relationship to the aurochs whatsoever (Hall 1982-3, 96; 1991, 540)." (Hemmings, 2002)
It is most likely that the forced inbreeding of the Chilingham cattle over hundreds of years in their particular park enclosure, of which there were many in the Middle Ages and beyond, has perpetuated and intensified their extremely wild behavior. It's fairly easy to hypothesize that in the Middle Ages and beyond the ancestors of these particular wild Chillingham cattle that exist today were likely left behind because they were hard to catch and move and thus less desirable, unlike their gentler herd mates that became the domesticated polled British White and horned White Park of today.
British White cattle are performing with excellence in Southeast Texas and in diverse climates around the globe. . . put the docile, fertile, milky, easy-keeping, long-lived, polled British White breed to work in your pastures.
About the Author:
J.West Cattle Company in Colmesneil, Texas, breeds registered British White cattle with a primary focus on superior Grassfed Genetics.
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British White Cattle - The polled White Park of Yesterday