Cattle : SHETLAND

Country of Origin : Shetland Islands, Scotland, Britain.

Australian Status:

International status: Rare. Found in Scotland, England and Australia.

Arrived in Australia: 2010's.

Australian Population: 4 cows (2020). 2022: seven cows, one bull, all registered. Thank you to Paddy Zacharia for the census information. 

Distribution: Victoria.

HIstory: Brought to Australia in the 2010's. Sometimes called Shetland Kye (kye means cattle, plural. A single cow is a coo). Known on the Shetland isles for at least 5,000 years; descended from Aurochs like all cattle -  archaeology proved Auroch were on the islands - harsh conditions made the cattle get smaller and finer over a couple of thousand years. Then Vikings added a few Norse cattle to the mix but didn't affect the genetics - as Shetland cattle were numerous imports were not needed - it's now believed the Viking cattle influence was negligible despite urban myth.

'The Shetland cattle contrive to live on their native moors and wastes, and some of them fatten there; for a considerable and increasing quantity of beef is salted in Shetland, and sent to the mainland, the quality of which is exceedingly good. When, however, the Shetlanders are transported to the comparatively richer pastures of the north of Scotland, they thrive with almost incredible rapidity, and their flesh and fat, being so newly and quickly laid on, is said to be peculiarly delicious and tender.'  William Youatt, Cattle: Being a Treatise on Their Breeds, Management, and Diseases, 1852.

'The Shetland Islands. There are about 30 inhabited islands with a population of 31,270... The diet of the entire people consists chiefly of milk prepared in various ways peculiar to the country.' The Mercury, Hobart, November 1872 (taken from Parliamentary Blue Book).

It was estimated in the early nineteenth century over 15,000 of these cattle were spread throughout the islands. By the 1980's however, they were threatened with extinction. This was largely due to a government ruling post WW2 that those who crossed the cattle got a big government subsidy, those who did not cross got nothing. Somehow, a few breeders kept pure lines going. It was always said a Shetland cow, despite the colours of her coat - black and white, or red and white, or blue and white including "sholmit, fleckit or mogiet" - could always be told by her black nose - from the Chronicle, Adelaide, August 1918 which reported the terms meant dun, mottled and brindled. According to The Northern Isles: Orkney and Shetland by Alexander Fenton, sholmit is white-faced, vandit is brindled, and a rig has a stripe down the back from ears to tail-tip (some cows were named Rigga for this stripe)' of interest there is a riggit colour in the Galloway breed.

Best known as a house cow for crofters (small holders) where milk was a staple. These cattle were intrinsic to life on Shetland; almost everyone kept a cow or two. The aged cows were slaughtered for meat and some of the beef salted for keeping, by being soaked in strong brine then dried or smaller pieces left in salt to cure - called saat beef. Saat beef is sold by Shetland butchers to this day. Fresh beef from an aged cow made a popular meal called sassermaet clatch - heavily spiced mince (sausage meat) cooked in a frypan with a chopped onion; a little liquid added, then put in a casserole with mashed tatties (potato) on top, topped with cheese and baked. Reistit bufe was beef dried either in the sun/air or  smoked in the chimney - to reist is to dry. Vivda was also a term, now obsolete, for beef dried without salt. Slink is a stew, cooked long and slow, of shin and joints; skink is a soup of the same (Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary);  however, vivda is the name for meat hung in sea caves to keep fresh; perhaps this too dried out eventually, being air dried in salty air.

Calves were raised to be eaten or sold, some retained for working oxen. Milk and cream made many products from butter and various cheeses, to yoghurt, to a drink taken to sea by fishermen; possibly a live culture buttermilk, also made on Shetland now, as in the past. When fatted calves were killed for food, it was noted the women knew a part of the intestines to be used with milk to make special products, probably a type of rennet. Crofters on the Shetland isles made their own footwear, called rivlins, from the hide of their old cow.

Horns made drinking vessels, buttons, spoons, knife handles, funnels to drench cattle, a circle (when cut across like a banana) to tuck scarf ends into, and more. An important use for horn for centuries, especially on the island, was foghorns. Used like a bugle, the sound carried exceptionally well. Blown at intervals from outposts on land they warned mariners there were land/rocks ahead; the same function as a lighthouse in effect. Foghorns were also used on ships in heavy fog to advertise their whereabouts; big ships in particular could be a hazard in thick fog if a smaller ship collided with them.  A foghorn was only called that when a horn was used in fog. Inventors later used the shape to make huge, mechanically powered megaphones for fog warning. Horns were used for all sorts of purposes such as calling children to dinner, cattle to feed, men to war and so on; and used as musical instruments on Shetland. Each horn can play two notes, an octave apart, thus four horns commonly made up part of a musical group.

Tough little cattle, their diet was also varied. Dried salted fish was a staple for cattle, sheep and ponies on Shetland and Iceland and an excellent source of iodine and other trace elements, used to eke out other feed; and in whaling days whale meat was boiled then dried, and used as stockfeed for cattle. Like all cattle with access to it, they enjoyed seaweed too; nature's mineral block in times past.

Salt beef was stored for use, and sent for sale to the mainland - a valuable commodity - it's flavour always praised highly. Butchers on the Shetlands also hung fresh carcasses in caves by the sea, where the tide came in and out, here the meat remained perfectly fresh for weeks - this beef was called vivda.

Bulls did the ploughing; oats for oatmeal and potatoes were major crops. Once ready, the sheaves or potatoes or turnips were loaded onto carts pulled by the bulls to be taken to storage. Cows not in calf were at times used for draught too, this gave the cattle a strong, even frame and good muscle structure still seen today. Once crops were off, gates were taken off the hinges so free ranging cattle could forage in the fields over winter. On the island of Papa Stour the cattle were said to be a distinctive type, slightly larger, with short horns. The cattle on other islands were kept smaller by poor conditions, however animals were often taken to holms - small islands - where feed was very good. This way chosen calves for the table were grown out. Cows that had had a tough winter were also put onto holms to recover condition. The cattle travelled calmly in little boats, being docile and sensible.

The Shetland Cattle Breed Society began in 1910, and published herdbooks 1912 - 1921; while herdboooks were not kept up after that due to disagreements about including crossbreds (upgrades in today's parlance) the society managed to keep going, and to hold meetings. From 1981 the herdbooks were resumed. 

Breed Traits: Once triple purpose - draught, milk, meat. Now dual purpose, meat and milk. Once, the bulls were used for draught, primarily ploughing, on the Shetland isles. The cows were beloved house cows, vital to existence. Both milk and meat have great health attributes. The milk is also high in butterfat.

Their skin is fine, thin like a dairy breed, the hair soft and short - despite being from a harsh environment, crofters always kept their precious cattle sheltered in the worst weather and at night in byres attached to the cottage - also helped warm the crofters cottage. They will weather out happily as in later times the care has been less intensive. One trait surviving from the thousands of years living very close to humans, is their good nature and affection - the cattle will follow you about, and come to greet you.

Most are black and white (90%), with some blue and white, red and white, dun and white coat colours seen, and occasionally, brindle. Bulls must be chiefly solid colour (less than 50-50 with white). Short, incurving, slightly upward inclined horns; white with black tips. White tails witch. Attractive head with wide forehead. Fine boned. Slim elegant neck, cleanly set on. Short legs of excellent conformation, set on four square, not crossing when walking - a leg on each corner as they say on Shetland. A good legacy from working days.

A wide muzzle prevents them eating grass too close thus protects pastures from over-grazing and allows low growing native plants to survive. Ideal for conservation grazing, they thrive on rough fare. Generous gut area to process roughage. Good doers.

Broader feet than most breeds so do not damage soft ground. Ease of calving due to the second widest pelvic structure of any other cattle breed. Good mothers. Calves grow very quickly due to good milk and converting feed rapidly - an astonishing conversion rate. 

Incredibly fertile breed, so heifers virtually from birth must be kept separate from bulls, and bull calves are fertile too from at least four months old and probably earlier. Heifers can calve very young, but as a slow maturing, long lived breed wisdom is needed to think of her long life and giving her a good start. Live happily into their 20's, cows still calving in their late teens.

The beef has low levels of saturated fat, is high in omega-3's and has high doses of conjugated linoleic acid - which the milk also has. The beef is very well marbled and praised for tenderness and flavour. Cows average 433kg, bulls 611kg.

Please be aware no upgrades of any percentage are allowed by this breed organisation.

Organisation: None in Australia. In the UK the Shetland Cattle Herdbook Society and the  Shetland Cattle Breeder's Association. Some information herein from the breed websites and from the Slow Food UK website and Trove (Australian Archives online).

Additional Notes:
Calf born August 2022 has the recessive red colour gene, the first seen in Australia. Congratulations Paddy! 

Photo : Four heifers due for calving. These beautiful heifers, now cows, are in Australia; brought in by ET.  Photo kindly supplied by breeder, Paddy Z.

Page by Janet Lane

 

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