The Breed
Breed Standard
The Droimeann is a small to medium sized animal. They are generally even tempered with a placid disposition and are intelligent in nature. They are dairy like in shape and produce milk high in solids. When fattened and killed their meat is marbled and has a distinct flavour. They come in various colours ranging from nearly all black or red to white with dark ears and muzzle. More often they are dark sided red black or blue with a distinctive white back and underside. They do better than other breeds and poorer forge which they convert easily to milk and meat. The Droimeann cow is very fertile and is very early maturing. Females can often start cycling at 4 to 5 months of age.
Characteristics of a Droimeann Cow
The Droimeann cow can come in a variety of colours from nearly all black and red to all white with dark ears and muzzle. They also come speckled sided but the most common colour is dark sided black, red or blue with a white back and underside. They generally have a white tail and a white diamond shape on their flank. Their front legs are usually darker in colour than their hind ones and their ears, muzzle and hooves are always dark.
Horns: They are a horned breed. The horns are usually curved and at a slight upward angle.
Eyes: Their eyes are set neatly into their head and have a docile expression with no white
showing.
Face: The face can be described as tulip shaped. It is not over long and is sometimes dished
on the nasal bone just below eye level. It is usually dark sided with a mottled front dark ears
and muzzle.
Neck: The neck should be of medium length, deep but not too thick. It should fit neatly into
the shoulders being dark along the sides white on the crest and with a white ring around the
throat just behind ears. A tear drop effect just under the eye is also another unique feature
Legs: They should be of medium length with a nice clean quality of bone. Over coarseness of
bone is to be avoided as this can lead to calving difficulties.
Feet: The hooves are always dark brown or black. This colour makes them very hardy and
durable.
Locomotion: It is important that the cow moves freely with no sign of stiffness. From a rear
view the hocks should not be touching. The hind legs from a side view should neither be
sickled or straight at the hocks but in between with a good steep angle to the foot.
The fore legs should be correctly placed being neither over nor back at the knee with a good
steep angle at the pastern.
The Droimeann is a medium sized cow that is hardy in nature and easy to maintain. The ideal
cow should average around 130cm (30”) at the shoulder and always looks in proportion. She
should be deep bodied with a flexible rib giving her the capacity to store large quantities of
forage. This will enable her to thrive on poor quality pasture. A good with between the hip
bones is desirable for easy calving.
The top line should be level the shoulders smooth and neatly fitting into the body and not
very wide at the top. There should be some angularity at the shoulder is desirable as this is a
sign that the cow can produce milk. The tail setting should be level and a high tail setting
should not be encouraged. The slope of the rump should ideally be level but a little sloped is
allowed. From a side view the thigh muscle should be well developed and at a right angle to the top line. However this is not always possible and so the closer to 90 degrees the better.
A good udder attachment, medium sized teeth with a good placement is desirable. The growth rate of the calf at foot rather than the size of the other will determine milking ability.
Each quarter should be evenly sized with the other not dropping below the level of the hocks. This is important because the udder tends to drop as the cow gets older.
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Characteristics of a Droimeann Bull
The same variation of colour as found with the Droimeann cow.
The head should be masculine in appearance the eyes bright and alert with a look at me
attitude. It should be connected to the body with a muscled powerful neck.
A medium length of leg with medium strength of bone is desirable. Toro strong of bone could lead to calving problems. Hooves are either black or brown colour. White hooves are not desirable.it is important that the cow moves freely showing no sign of stiffness. The working frame carried by the back legs showing a natural width of stance slightly curved forward
from the hock neither bow legged or cow hocked.
When viewed from the side it should be neither sickled nor straight but in between.
The four legs should be wide apart with adequate length of cannon bone and toes pointing
straight ahead.
The pastern should be neither too straight nor too springy but somewhere in between.
The foot itself should be normal not scissor shaped or with uneven claws.
The average height of a mature Droimeann bull is approx. 135cm (54”) at the shoulder. He should be a good length with a wide deep body. It is important that a bull should have a
wide rump. A good chest width is desirable. The top line should be level right through to the
tail setting. The slope of the rump should be level and from a side view the thigh muscle should be well developed and at a right angle to the top line. A well fleshed bull is preferred as they are easier to maintain and better for meat production.
Two testicles of even size should be present in the scrotum sac. As testicle size is directly
related to fertility the larger the testicles the better. A mature bull of two to four years
should have a testicle circumference of 32 to 34 cm or more. Studies have shown that bulls
with larger testicles produce daughters of higher fertility. At rest the penis should retract
fully into the sheath.
