The
National Park Hortobagy, Hungary, is home to the largest Taurus cattle
population. I did a post on this herd using information I got from from Claudia
Zimmermann and István Sándor in March 2014, also with
photos. Now, two years later, this post deserves a little update, so I
contacted István Sándor again. I was provided with lots of photos and
information, many thanks! All the photos are courtesy of István Sándor, so
please do not replicate without permission.
The herd numbers approximately 600
individuals today, a good part of them are calves (about 130 calves get born
every year). The population is of course still heterogeneous, but they select
strongly. Most frequent undesired traits are insufficient body size, horn
curvature or thin horns, I was told. I'd expect colour to be variable as well.
After
calving season, the bulls that are chosen for breeding are allowed to join the
cows for mating (two or three bulls per season). They compete with each other
for breeding rights. Rimu (a [Sayaguesa x Heck] x [Grey x Watussi] bull) and
Anno, a pure Heck bull from Wörth, were used as breeding bulls in 2014, last
year Anno and Felipe. The latter one is from the Lippeaue and a son of Lamarck
and the Sayaguesa cow Augustina born in 2013. They currently have another bull
from the Lippeaue which is too young for breeding yet.
In 2014, I
speculated that this bull (called Aramis) has Lidia ancestry. I was wrong, in
fact it was a fullblood brother of Zeusz, both of which are the sons of Lasso
(75% Heck, 25% Sayaguesa) and Xena, the Grey x Holstein cow. Both the brothers
were not used for breeding, and at least Aramis had been slaughtered.
Szepes (12,5%
Sayaguesa, 87,5 % Heck) has been
excluded from breeding as well now. He was, just like his fullblood brother
Toldi, too aggressive as well. Which is a pity, because both brothers were
large and had good horns. I don't know if Szepes left descendants and how many.
They bought
three pure Watussi from Germany, which are currently living in the reserve. The
Watussi cattle themselves are cold-sensitive and cannot stay outside the whole
winter, but first-generation crosses, despite having a shorter coat, do not
have these problems. Dewlap and fleshy hump are not inherited that strongly,
but usually the horn shape of first-generation Watussi crosses is problematic.
But it seems that the great gain of volume is worth it.
Below are photos
of three Watussi crosses. The first one is a first generation cross, a son of
Anno, the Wörth bull. This combination is especially interesting, because the
Wörth lineage already has rather large horns thanks to selection and slight
Watussi influence. Szaniszlo, most likely a second generation Watussi-mix, is
designed for breeding 2016.
Anno x Watussi cow |
Second generation Watussi cross, slaughtered |
Szaniszlo |
Benjamin, a possible breeding bull for 2016; has influence of Heck, Sayaguesa and Grey cattle |
Anno is a good Wörth bull. He resembles the popular bull Aretto, who was likely his father – no colour saddle and good, large horns. His descendants are thick-horned as well, without ending up small and dachshund-legged despite being half-Heck. If that’s what we can expect for the products of the Wörth Heck cow Nadia in the Lippeaue, I am much looking forwards to those new large-horned Taurus cattle. Those Anno-descendants have more upright horns, but that is not necessarily because they are half-Heck since the Hungarian herd has had recent influx from Grey cattle.
Anno |
A little
surprise was that Larus (Heck x Lidia), the little half-Lidia bull I mentioned in my previouspost on old and removed cattle from the Lippeaue, went to Hortobagy, where he
lived until 2010. He was the only half-Lidia they used in Hortobagy, and very
aggressive. I don’t know if he left descendants.
It seems to
be true of all half-Lidia bulls that one can barely work with them in extensive
grazing projects – see the Lippeaue, where they only kept one in one instance
for a few years, Denmark, where they had to slaughter their bull, and Larus.
Larus, Heck x Lidia, as a grown bull |
Now, some
good and average cows from the reserve:
Thank you for another interesting report! I am particularly impressed with the bull Szaniszlo, which seems to combine good horns with good colour and long, graceful legs. Do you know anything about his size?
ReplyDeleteSome of the cows too look very promising!
Petter Bøckman
I don't know about its size; Toldi, Rimu and Zeusz have/had a shoulder height of about 160 cm, but they are a suboptimal analogue because each of them is of a different breed combination.
DeleteYou are well informed regarding the type and developments, Daniel.I wished I could say the same of the Taurossen at Kempen~Broek!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI wonder why these have names. Interesting anyway and very good photo's.
Gerard
I had a chance to see the Hortobagy herd (or at least part of it) last week. Incredibly beautiful animals, and the area they graze in has become the best grassland in all of the national park. I saw a birch mouse there, which is extremely rare.
ReplyDeleteNice! Do you have photos online somewhere?
DeleteI'm really sad hat people eliminate lidia derived cattle since they have he most auroch like feathures and behaviour
ReplyDelete