Swedish Red Polled
In its own language: Rödkulla
A hornless red Swedish cow kept for milk and meat, once reduced to about 20 animals.
A deep red Swedish cow that is always hornless, kept as a dual-purpose animal for both milk and meat. It nearly died out in the 1970s, when barely twenty pure-bred head remained, and has been rebuilt since.
- Every calf is born hornless; horned animals are barred from the herd book.
- The breed sank to about twenty pure-bred animals by the late 1970s, then recovered.
- Official recognition came in 2004 as Swedish breed number 40.
- A cow milks about 5,500 kg a year; slaughter stock reaches 250 to 400 kg.
- Herd book from 1912; around 30,000 head by the late 1930s.
What do Swedish Red Polled cattle look like?
This is a deep red cow of the old Swedish farm kind. Cows weigh from 350 to 600 kg. The coat is solid red in most animals, though white markings are permitted. The defining feature is the head: Rödkulla cattle are polled, which means hornless from birth, and the rule is strict, for any animal that grows horns may not be entered in the herd book. It is a practical farm animal, known for making the most of grazing and for bearing the hardest winter weather.
Where does the Swedish Red Polled come from?
The Rödkulla is one of Sweden's older farm breeds. Its heartland was Dalarna, and it was widely kept on the western seaboard too. A herd book opened in 1912, and the breed spread; by the late 1930s it was being kept in Bohuslän, Värmland, Dalsland, Närke, Västmanland, Gästrikland, Hälsingland and Uppland, and out on the islands of the Stockholm archipelago, some 30,000 head in all. In 1937 came a plan to merge it with the Fjällras, a mountain breed of quite different kind, under the new name Svensk Kullig Boskap. Keepers rejected the scheme and held their bloodlines apart. Numbers fell away regardless, until only about twenty pure-bred animals were left in the late 1970s. Conservation followed, and in 2004 the state gave the breed formal standing as number 40.
What the Swedish Red Polled is known for
Two things make this cow useful on a northern farm: it tolerates extremes of cold, and it grazes eagerly, turning whatever forage the land offers into milk and meat. Hornlessness is fixed rather than a matter of luck, so every calf is born without horns. The Rödkulla is thrifty and undemanding, at home on ordinary pasture, and it suits keepers who want one animal to fill both the pail and the meat larder.
How the Swedish Red Polled is bred and kept
A herd book has served the breed since 1912. The boldest intervention came in 1937, when a new breed, the Swedish Polled or Svensk Kullig Boskap (SKB), was created to absorb the Rödkulla into the Fjällras. Breeders declined the merger and maintained their separate red line, and that stubbornness is why the breed survives. A society for its supporters, Sveriges Rödkulleförening, took shape during the 1960s as numbers sank. Recovery later included fresh blood from two kindred polled reds of neighbouring countries, the Ostlandsk Roedkolle and the Vestlandsk Raudkolle. Formal recognition arrived in 2004, when Statens Jordbruksverk, the Swedish agriculture board, entered the breed under number 40. Frozen semen from seventy further bulls is held for artificial insemination, widening the choices of today's breeders.
Swedish Red Polled, drawn
What the Swedish Red Polled is kept for
The Rödkulla is kept for two products at once. A cow gives roughly 5,500 kg of milk in a year, a solid return for an animal never bred purely for the pail. Meat is the other output: stock reared for slaughter reaches between 250 and 400 kg, a weight attained at about thirty months of age. The dual role suits a household farm, where one breed of cow must supply both the dairy pail and the meat trade.
The land and climate of the Swedish Red Polled
The breed belongs to a cold northern country. Its oldest stronghold was Dalarna, and it was also much kept on the coast in the west of Sweden; from these homes it spread to provinces across the middle and east of the land, reaching even the islands off Stockholm. Severe cold does not trouble it: the breed is noted for withstanding extremes of winter weather. Because it forages well, it copes on grazing that a fussier animal might waste.
At a glance: where it belongs
Land and climate
Numbers, conservation and the herd book
Numbers have swung from abundance to the edge of loss. Around 30,000 head were counted in the late 1930s, yet by the close of the 1970s only some twenty pure-bred animals remained, and rescue work began. The FAO's 2007 assessment lists the breed as not at risk. A count in 2009 found roughly 1,600 animals, cows outnumbering bulls three to one, with semen from seventy additional bulls kept for artificial insemination. The register number 40, assigned by Statens Jordbruksverk in 2004, gives the breed a place in official Swedish agriculture.
From the Swedish Red Polled
Questions people ask about Swedish Red Polled
Where does the Swedish Red Polled come from?
It is a traditional Swedish breed with roots in Dalarna and the western seaboard. A herd book opened in 1912, after which it spread to many more provinces, and by the late 1930s some 30,000 head were kept.
What is the breed kept for?
Milk and meat together, as a dual-purpose cow. A Rödkulla gives about 5,500 kg of milk a year, while stock reared for slaughter reaches 250 to 400 kg at roughly thirty months old, so one herd serves both the dairy and the meat trade.
Does it have horns?
No. The breed is polled, meaning naturally hornless, and this is part of its definition: an animal that grows horns cannot be entered in the herd book. What you see instead is a clean-headed, deep red cow, sometimes with white markings.
How hardy is it?
It copes with the coldest weather and grazes well, making good use of pasture across a long northern year. Hardiness of this kind, rather than record yields, is why Swedish farmers kept it.
How many are left?
The breed nearly vanished, sinking to about twenty pure-bred animals in the late 1970s before conservation brought it back. By 2009 the count stood at roughly 1,600 head, cows outnumbering bulls three to one, and the FAO had already classed it as not at risk in 2007.
Good reading and sources
- Swedish Red Polled on WikipediaEncyclopedia
- More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
- Wikidata recordOpen data
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Swedish Red Polled", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). EveryCow rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. Sizes, colours and customs differ from one herd, valley or breeder to the next. Folk beliefs are described as tradition, never as advice. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-16.
More from Sweden
All the breeds of Sweden
🇸🇪 SwedenSwedish Red-and-WhiteSvensk röd och vit boskap
A red and white Swedish milk breed with horns on cows and bulls alikeTaurine · Dairy
🇸🇪 SwedenFjällSvensk fjällras
A polled, mostly white dairy cow from the Swedish mountains, hardy on thin grazing.Taurine · Dairy · Polled
🇸🇪 SwedenVäneko
An endangered Swedish dairy breed, black or red with white, named for a villageTaurine · Dairy
🇸🇪 SwedenBohuskulla
A rare, hornless Swedish mountain breed, usually black or brown and often colour-sidedTaurine · Heritage · Quick and strong
Its cousins elsewhere
All dual-purpose breeds
🇲🇳 Mongolia and 4 moreYakགཡག་
A shaggy, cold-hardy highland bovine kept across the Himalayas and Tibetan PlateauYak · Triple-purpose · Cold-hardy
🇮🇩 Indonesia and 4 moreBali cattle
A small humped breed from Indonesia, descended from wild banteng, kept for meat and plowing.Banteng · Beef · Disease-resistant
🇵🇰 Pakistan and 5 moreZebu
Humped, heat-tolerant cattle of South Asia, kept for milk, meat, work and ridingZebu · Dairy · Heat-tolerant
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreWild yak
A massive, shaggy wild bovine native to the high plateaux and peaks of the HimalayasYak · Beef · Cold-hardy