Hugh Watson became a tenant at Keillor in Angus in 1808. He gathered a large volume of cattle and produced animals of excellent characteristics and quality. Hugh Watson could be deemed as the founder of the breed and was instrumental in selecting the best black and polled animals for his flock. His favorite bull was Old Jock, born in 1842 and the son of Gray-Breasted Jock. Old Jock received the number “1” in the Scotch Herd Book when it was founded. Another of Watson’s notable animals was a cow: Old Granny, born in 1824 and that allegedly was 35 years old and produced 29 calves. A vast majority of Angus cattle today can trace back their pedigrees to these two animals.

When George Grant transported four Angus bulls from Scotland to the middle of the Kansas prairie in 1873, they were part of the Scotsman’s dream of founding a colony of wealthy British and livestock farmers. Grant died five years later, and many of the settlers at his colony in Victoria, Kansas, later returned to their homeland. However, these four Angus bulls, probably from George Brown’s flock from Westertown, Fochabers, Scotland, made a lasting impression on the US livestock industry.

Aberdeen Angus are polled cattle and can be black or red, although black is the dominant color, white can occasionally appear on the udder.

They are weather resistant, undemanding, adaptable, of a good nature, mature very early, and have a high carcass yield with well marbled meat. The Angus breed is known as a beef breed. They are widely used in crossbreeding to improve carcass quality and maternal ability. They are also used as genetic pollers, because the gene is transmitted as a dominant characteristic.

Sexual precocity, fertility and stayability in the herd. The Angus cow does its job well, whether on the first or fourteenth calf.

Naturally polled – it is not necessary to dehorn Angus cattle. There is no occurrence of eye or udder cancer, as the dark skin and udder of Angus cattle make problems in these regions rare. Adaptable to all climatic conditions, Angus animals thrive in all conditions with minimum maintenance.