10 of the Most Distinctive Cattle Breeds

Texas Longhorn Cow

The Texas Longhorn Cow is descended from a combination between an Iberian breed and an Indian one. They had been among the first cattle dropped at North America by Europeans. Appropriately named, the Longhorn is understood for its sizable headwear. These horns can develop as a lot as 7 ft from tip to tip. However regardless of the intimidating horns, Texas longhorn cows are fairly mild and sensible.

These cows take eight to 10 years to achieve full dimension, which is anyplace from 800 to 1,500 kilos. Regardless of their slower maturation, they’ve a reproductive interval that is twice so long as different breeds.

Ankole-Watusi Cow

To not be outdone with regards to massive horns, the Ankole-Watusi is a spectacular breed of cow native to Africa. It is believed they originated over 2,000 years in the past from the Egyptian Longhorn cattle and the Zebu Longhorns, that are initially from India.

This breed’s spectacular horns can develop so long as 8 ft from tip to tip. Proportionally, they appear impossibly massive, however they do have sensible functions: The massive horns are used to disperse warmth, in addition to act as intimidating weapons to keep at bay predators. The cows are often a darkish pink colour, generally with white speckling.

Highland Cow

Transferring from the warmth of Africa to the chilly of Scotland, we discover one other cow breed that has tailored to its surroundings. The highland cow has a thick, shaggy coat that retains it heat and protected against wind and rain. As a bonus, the wavy coat additionally offers it an endearingly foolish look. The highland cow has the longest hair of any breed of cattle.

Apparently, Scottish breeders don’t confer with a gaggle of their cows as a herd, however fairly a “fold.” This originated from the historic want to collect cattle at night time into open stone shelters referred to as folds to guard them from each the climate and wolves.

Belgian Blue Cow

Successful the trophy for one of the crucial bizarre-looking outcomes of experimentation with beef cattle breeding is the Belgian blue. The surprisingly lumpy look is known as double-muscling—a genetic trait that creates an elevated variety of muscle fibers. It leads to about 20% extra muscle than the typical cow and extra-lean meat. This fascinating situation was first famous in 1808, and since then, the breed has been chosen particularly due to its results.

These animals can develop to be monumental. It is not unusual to see a Belgian blue bull that weighs over 2,800 kilos (1,300 kilograms). Females can attain near 2,000 kilos (900 kilograms).

Zebu Cow

Lumpy and bumpy another way is the zebu cow. Zebus are a kind of cattle originating from South Asia. They’ve been developed into extra particular breeds (extra on a type of quickly), however the umbrella breed is the Bos indicus. This breed is well recognized by the distinguished hump on its shoulders (which might have been bred by choice from non-humped cattle), in addition to the dewlap—the saggy pores and skin hanging from its neck. The profile of the zebu cow is unmistakable.

American Brahman Cow

The American Brahman cow is one particular breed of zebu that was developed in the US from zebu cattle imported from India and Brazil, so it has the attribute shoulder hump and distinguished dewlap however is coloured both pink or grey. These cows even have distinctive qualities of their very own although, notably their unusually lengthy ears that give them a goat-like look. The breed is understood for its capability to resist warmth, a capability that may be attributed to its thick hair and abundance of unfastened pores and skin.

Dexter Cow

Simply as there are miniature horses, there are miniature cows. The Dexter cow, initially from Eire, is a type of breeds. These tiny cows stand solely about 3 to 4 ft tall on the shoulder, making them nice for small farms in all climates. The Canadian Dexter Cattle Affiliation says the breed is “recognized for its hardiness, docility, thriftiness and calving ease.”

Dexter cows raised for dairy present one to 2 gallons of milk per day (versus eight to 10 gallons from a typical Holstein dairy cow). In case you’re elevating one for meat, you’d get about 400 kilos of meat (in comparison with twice that from an average-sized steer). These qualities make them extra manageable for a household farm. Plus, they’re cute, which is all the time a bonus.

Miniature Belted Galloway Cow

One other lovely and strange cattle breed is the mini-belted Galloway, or mini beltie. These little cows sport a black coat with a belt of white round their center. Their coat can be fairly thick, which is a results of the place the breed was developed: the highlands of Scotland. The mini-belted Galloway just isn’t almost as shaggy because the highland cow, however as a result of they naturally do not have horns, they appear all of the extra cuddly. They’re primarily raised for his or her scrumptious marbled meat, although many farmers respect their uncommon look within the pasture, incomes them the nickname of “Oreo cows.”

Miniature Jersey Cow

Jersey cows are widespread sufficient, however what about miniature Jerseys? These cows stand a mere three to three.5 ft tall on the shoulder. Like the opposite smaller breeds, they had been developed to be extra manageable for small farms that do not want as a lot milk or meat or do not need to make investments as a lot area or feed into livestock. They had been developed by crossing commonplace Jerseys with Dexters or different miniature cattle. They’re mild, docile, and mild-mannered—not like their commonplace counterparts, that are recognized to be high-strung and aggressive.

Panda Cow

And at last, we now have a very uncommon cow. The miniature panda cow is understood for its markings which might be similar to these of large pandas, proper all the way down to the darkish eye patches. In reality, if it would not have the right markings—a white belt across the center and distinct black eye patches on a white face—it would not rely as a panda cow.

There are solely a handful of those cute cows on this planet: In 2013, one breeder estimated there have been solely 30 to 40. They’re so uncommon that when one is born, it often makes the information, like this lovely calf named Ben whose uncommon markings have made him value an estimated $30,000. If you wish to see them for your self, there’s a pair of panda cows on the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Washington.