After my portrait of the two subadult Auerrind bulls, Claus Kropp told me that Alvarez the Sayaguesa x Watussi bull has already inseminated the Sayaguesa x Grey cattle cow and soon will be brought to the herd of Chianina x Sayaguesa crosses. I am extremely happy to hear this as this not only means that next year we will see the birth of the first second generation Auerrind, but also that the very promising combination (Sayaguesa x Chianina ) x (Sayaguesa x Watussi) will be realized.
The (Sayaguesa x Watussi) x (Sayaguesa x Grey) sounds promising too. It surely will have a lot of Sayaguesa characteristics, and also the potential for long and large horns on both parental sides. Thanks to Grey cattle, the winter coat has the potential to be rather good.
I was also told that the first Chianina x Watussi have been born. This combination will also be used as a partner for Alvarez in the future once the newborn individuals are sexually mature. I am looking forward to see how this combination will turn out, and true F2 Chianina x Watussi would certainly be also worth a try (they would even have the potential for a perfectly aurochs-like colour: Watussi removes the dilutions, Chianina contributes the allele for E+ and black pigment, possibly even some degree of dichromatism masked under the dilutions).
Now the project is really coming on, it is great to see it progressing with each year. A herd book exists since 2015, which is important for keeping track of the offspring.
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