I have found some odds and ends information about some cattle breeds! Some of these are very interesting! I’ve learned about so many breeds i didn’t even know exsisted!
Africander: The Africander is a native South African breed. It belongs to the Sanga type and is used primarily for meat production. The breed is usually red with long lateral horns. Sanga type cattle, in huge herds, were owned by the Hottentots when the Dutch established the Cape Colony in 1652. The animals were obtained by the colonists who improved them for use as draft animals. It was Africander oxen that drew the wagons which carried Boer farmers and families on the Great Trek of 1835 - 36 from the Cape of Good Hope to the Orange Free State, Natal and the Transvaal to escape British rule. the word trek is originally Afrikaans, meaning draft.
Beefmaster: Beefmaster cattle have been developed by the Lasater Ranch then headquartered in Texas. The breeding program leading to their establishment was started by Ed C. Lasater in 1908, when he purchasedBrahman bulls to use on his commercial herd ofHereford and Shorthorncattle. The first of these bulls that he used were principally of Girbreeding, although some of the Nelore breed were also used. In 1925 he introduced Guzerat blood into the herd.
Chianina:The Chianina (pronounced kee-a-nee-na) may well be one of the oldest breeds of cattle in existence. They were praised by the Georgic poets, Columella and Vergil, and were the models for Roman sculptures.
The breed originated primarily in the west central part of Italy and was found in a wide variety of environmental conditions. Because of this, the cattle vary in size and type from region to region. The largest representatives of the breed, from the plains of Arezzo and Siena, have supplied most of the foundation stock that has been used in the United States and Canada. The name comes from the Chiana Valley in the province of Tuscany in Central Italy.
Devon: The Devon, sometimes called North Devon, to distinguish it from the South Devonbreed, is one of the oldest beef breeds in existence today. In fact some authorities consider the Devon's origin to be prehistoric, the assumption being that the breed descended directly from Bos lonqifrons, the smaller type of aboriginal cattle in Britain. In fact, according to an offical reference material compiled by the Devon Cattle Breeders Society, Somerset, England; Devon Cattle - The Red Rubies, it appears that the Red Cattle of North Devon may have contributed to the Hereford and other British breed
English Longhorn:The English Longhorn originated in northwest and central England and Ireland. They are used primarily for meat production.
The English Longhorn became the first breed, in the mid-1700s, that were improved by Robert Bakewell of Leicestershire, England. Bakewell pioneered the use of inbreeding technique in cattle selection. He selected the English Longhorn for quick growth and heavy hindquarters. His selection efforts led the breed to become the most widely used throughout England and Ireland until it was surpasses by the Shorthorn breed in the early 1800s.
Fjall:he conformation of the Fjall or commonly known as the Swedish Mountain breed, was established by the end of the 19th century in approximately 1893. Then the average milk yield was about 12-1400kg with 3-3.5% fat. The weight of the cows was about 300-350kg. No foreign breeds were used when the breed was established. Today the average milk yield is about 5500kg per year with 4.5% fat and 3.6% protein. Although good cows can produce up to 11 - 12,000kg a year. The average weight on cows is now 450kg (350-600). Full grown bulls can weigh 650-800kg. The average height for cows are about 125cm and for full grown bulls 135-140cm.
Greek Shorthorn:This is a rare breed is reared under extensive husbandry condition in mountain areas of the northwest regions ofGreece. A meat animal also used for draft purposes, the Greek Shorthorn is of the Iberian type.
They are usually small size animals (height 0.97 – 1.14 m). The head is small with short and thin horns. The colour of the body is variant from Brown, bay, chestnut, grey and grey-black, similar to the Albanian and Busa.. The colour of the nostril, the mucous of the mouth and the hoofs is usually black. The body weight of bulls is around 300 kg and that of cows around 200 kg.
Holstein:The Holstein cow originated in Europe. The major historical developement of this breed occured in what is now theNetherlands and more specifically in the two northern provices of North Holland and Friesland which lay on either side of the Zuider Zee. The original stock were the black animals and white animals of the Batavians and Friesians, migrant European tribes who settled in the Rhine Delta region about 2,000 years ago.
For many years, Holsteins were bred and strictly culled to obtain animals which would make best use of grass, the area's most abundant resource. The intermingling of these animals evolved into an efficient, high-producing black-and-white dairy cow
Icelandic: The Icelandic cattle are found on the island of Iceland in the North Atlantic Ocean. They originated from cattle brought from Norway during the settlement of Iceland in the 10th century. It´s a dual-purpose breed and a very small one, total Icelandic cattle stock counts only 75,000 including 30,000 lactating cows.
The breed is usually polled and especially colourful with about 6 basic colours and more than 100 colours schemes. The most common colours are red or red pied, brindle, brown and black or black pied. Icelandic cows average 430 kg while bulls average 600 kg. The breed is usually polled.
Jersey:The Jersey breed originated on the Island of Jersey, a small British island in the English Channel off the coast of France. The Jersey is one of the oldest dairy breeds, having been reported by authorities as being purebred for nearly six centuries.
The breed was known in England as early as 1771 and was regarded very favorably because of its milk and butterfat production. At that early date, the cattle of Jersey island were commonly referred to as Alderney cattle although the cattle of this island were later referred to only as Jerseys. Jersey cattle were brought to the United States in the 1850's.
Kerry:Kerry cattle are most probably the descendants of the Celtic Shorthorn, brought to Ireland as long ago as 2000 B.C. They are still found grazing in the marginal pastures of the hill districts of southwestern Ireland. Kerries were imported to the United States beginning in 1818 and the breed prospered through the early 20th century. But by the 1930's, however, it had practically disappeared from North America. Today there are few Kerrys in the United States and only a few herds, based on recent imports, in Canada.
The Kerry is a small-sized, fine-boned dairy breed, mostly black in color. Cows weigh between 780-1000 pounds and are horned. Milk production averages 7000-8000 pounds, but can occasionally exceed 10,000 pounds, with over 4% butterfat. Kerrys are hardy and long-lived, often still calving at 14-15 years of age.
By 1983 the world population of pedigreed Kerrys had dropped to around 200. The Irish Department of Agriculture has since taken steps to support the maintenance of the breed and numbers are again creeping upwards.
Lohani:The Lohani is a draft type that is found in the Loralai district in Pakistan's Baluchistan Province and Dera Ismail Khan in NWF Province. They have a red coat splashed with white spots. Their average weight at maturity is 300 kg for the males and 235 kg for the females.
They have a short-stature and a small size. Short thick horns, small ears, short neck, well developed hump, moderate dewlap, black switch of tail, small tucked up udder in cows, and it is a hardy and sure-footed animal. Male stock are suitable for light work in hilly and sub-hilly areas.
Morucha: The Morucha originated in the region of Salamanca in Spain. With a current population of 161,000 animals it is an important Spanish breed. Historically the breed was used as a draft animal and has been used to produce fighting bulls but it is currently primarily used for beef production. They are thought to have originated from Black Iberian cattle. Current (1999) ranked geographic distribution would be as follows: Salamanca, Cáceres, Samara, Ávila, Valladolid, Badajoz, Palencia, Toledo, Jaén, Ciudad Real, Madrid and some areas of Portugal.
It is average in size with the males weighing as much as 900 kilograms and Morucha females up to 500 kilograms. It is either black or blue-roan (gray).
The breed shows a strong maternal instinct and good fertility rate with a productive life of 14 to 16 years. The breed exhibits good foraging abilities and is adapted well to less intensive production systems.
Shorthorn: The Shorthorn Breed of Cattle originated on the northeastern coast of England in the counties of Northcumberland, Durham, York, and Lincoln. These counties all touch the North Sea and lie between the Cheviot Hills and the middle part of England. The first real development of the Shorthorn breed took place in the valley of the Tees River. This river, the valley of which is so well known in the development of the breed, lies between Durham and York counties, and the large cattle that inhabited this fertile valley early became known as Teeswater cattle. In addition to having acquired a reputation for producing excellent cattle, the Tees River Valley excelled in crops, pastures, and generally high plane of agriculture.
Telemark: This is a horned, redsided dual purpose breed. It is found mainly in the mountainous regions of southeastern Norway. It is considered a good grazing animal and an efficient milk yielder on a high-roughage diet. Live weight range for cows is 400-500 kg. Registered population in 1995 was 96 heifers (2 years and younger) and 396 cows. Semen reserves in 1995 was 27,175 units (44 bulls).
Information all from: http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/
