Milking Devon
(most common name)
(transboundary/brand name)

(local/other name):
• Red Devon (USA)

The Milking Devon of the United States today began with purebred Devon cattle that were imported consistently from England from 1800–1851.

Although Edward Winslow did import a ‘Devon’ bull and two heifers from England in 1623 (to the Plymouth colony in what eventually became Massachusetts) — the Devon was not actually a distinct English breed before the 18th century.

In 1623, Dutch and various locally bred English cattle were being imported by the colonies through the port of Plymouth in England. The designation of ‘Devon’ for the cattle could have simply been refering to the county of Devon, home of the port of Plymouth.

Regardless, these initial ‘Devons’ in 1623 were most likely just absorbed into a mix of ‘native’ North American cattle and were not a foundation stock of any sort for the Milking Devon breed. (‘Native’, here, means whatever cattle had already been imported into North America by the colonists since only bison were truly native to the continent at that time.)

As of 2021, the following population counts are listed in DAD-IS:
• 2017 - 25 (Canada)
• 2016 - 211 (USA)

This page was last updated on: 2023-10-19

You can also go to:

My Daily Cow® Canada and USA and read about other North American cattle breeds.

The Cow Wall® A-Z Cattle Breed Picture Reference to see other breeds of cattle in the world.