Fullblood or Purebred: What do these terms mean? Simply put, these are the most widely used terms in the agricultural world to define and classify the breed purity or blood percentage of a breed of cattle. Fullblood most often refers to cattle that are 100% in breed purity. Purebred usually refers to cattle that are bred up fairly close to fullblood, but have the genetics of another breed somewhere back in their pedigree.

In cases where breed purity matters, (for example, when buying or selling fullblood or purebred seedstock, or preserving rare breeds in danger of extinction) it is important to clarify everyones' definitions when discussing these terms.

Breeds of cattle that are 100% pure may be defined as fullblood or purebred, depending upon which breed, person, or registry you are dealing with. There may be additional breed terms that indicate purity, such as heritage, native, traditional, unhybridized, landrace, heirloom, etc. Here are a few things to be aware of:

• The term fullblood is not recognized by all registries, and those few may use the term purebred to indicate 100% pure animals.
  
  
• Most cattle breed registries do use the term fullblood, and they use the term purebred for animals of high percentage purity (but less than 100%). Different registries qualify cattle as purebred at different percentages, but most consider bulls >93.75% and females > 87.5% as purebred cattle.
  
  
• In science there is an assumed margin of error when working with purity in older cattle pedigrees before DNA parentage verification came on the scene. L. P. McCann in "The Battle of Bull Runts", a book that tells of his adventures in running down the source of dwarfism in the Hereford breed, wrote: "Poor fences, bad gates, lax management, incomplete or careless records and other human errors are responsible for about five percent (5%) error in the pedigrees of registered livestock, according to geneticists in the field of animal science."
  
  
• In North America, many cattle registered, advertised and sold as "registered purebreds" are exactly that. What many 1st time cattle owners may not understand is that a registered purebred literally refers to hybridized animals that are registered with the same breed name as their fullblood counterparts. This does not present any problems for most new owners. But for those interested in fullblood cattle, or in rare breed preservation, this matters. Most "registered purebred" miniature cattle are Dexter upgrade breeds, which can bring in the additional management issue of breeding dwarf carrier cattle.
  
  
• When composite breeds have existed long enough (for example, the Santa Gertrudis) their registries may eventually start to use the word fullblood to indicate a "100% pure" animal of their established, now-predictable composite breed, and close their herd book. That can be confusing, as it is mostly a perspective to determine when a breed becomes established, which we will leave for you to decide.

Sources / Resources:

L. P. McCann in "The Battle of Bull Runts", a book that tells of his adventures in running down the source of dwarfism in the Hereford breed in the mid 20th century, wrote: "Poor fences, bad gates, lax management, incomplete or careless records and other human errors cause about five percent (5%) error in the pedigrees of registered livestock, according to geneticists in the field of animal science."

Heritage Cattle Directory of Breeds {heritage-cattle.com}
Homestead Cattle Directory of Breeds {homesteadcattle.com}
Charts of Breed Comparisons between breeds of Homestead & Miniature Cattle
What to know about Breed Registries
Directory of Heritable Cattle Diseases & DNA Tests for breeds of North American cattle
Directory of DNA Test Labs for North American Cattle

Percentage and Upgrading Chart American Maine-Anjou Association May 2013
Highland cattle: Fullblood or Purebred? Bairnsley Highland Cattle, Australia
What is a Breed. A simple, concise history of type & purity of British & Continental breeds of cattle. Beef Magazine
Creating Breeds and Composites. TX Cooperative Extension Agency & Texas AMU
From Big to Small to Big to Small: A 3-part Pictorial History of Cattle Type Changes Over the Years, by Harlan Ritchie

Homestead & Miniature Cattle Directory



Homestead Cattle Association

Homestead & Miniature Cattle Registry
Heritage Cattle Registry

published 2016