Today, I bring you the British Longhorn.
Now, I know that a lot of you over in the yooo ess of eh will immediately be thinking of your own longhorn cattle, but the Texas Longhorn is of a different lineage altogether.
These cattle are easily recognised from other horned cattle by their white spinal colouring, the one constant in otherwise varied coat colours. The white is also seen on the underside. In earlier times, they served as draught cattle as well as for both meat and milk production. As with so many breeds, the current 'standard' was only started to be formalised in the mid-eighteenth century. The focus tended to be on beef growth, but as the milk of these cattle is also highly prized for butter making, there is a strong dairy strain in the breed, too.
Despite their appearance, these are considered to be among the more docile cattle for handling, though, of course, one must always be respectful of them, for they are also among the largest and heaviest!
I mentioned the milk quality - these are also known as good mothers, and it was with sheer delight that I was able to witness a suckling calf... Nothing screams nature more than the mum-and-bub cycle of life...
From a quick glance from the rear for a moment there I thought there was a pig was sharing the stall with the cattle
ReplyDeleteIt’s interesting how the Horns on the British Longhorn flow sideways then down as opposed to the Texas Longhorn’s growing sideways then up
The T L/horns are becoming big business in some of the large Qld cattle stations,
A rare breed these days I guess? i wonder how well they convert grass...
ReplyDeleteyou are right... a mom and a kidlet are such a fab symbol of life and how life goes on...
ReplyDeleteThey are huge and the calf is so sweet!
ReplyDeleteawwww that baby is an awwww moment for sure. you know I love cows and I can see if one of these stepped
ReplyDeleteon a foot it would be a big OWWIE
They are cute, I love the second photo of the Mum and calf feeding. Have a great day and a happy weekend.
ReplyDeleteMassive!
ReplyDeleteThey do have a docile look!
ReplyDeleteAaaawwwwww, love their coloring and snub-like faces!
ReplyDeleteM(oo)OL there furs look a bit silky too and horns not as pointy as the Texas longhorns.
ReplyDeleteHugs Cecilia
What a cute picture of that calf and his mom. Those are very pretty colored cattle.
ReplyDeleteSuch lovely coat markings. Baby calves, or calvies as sweet Uncle Pete the farmer called them, are a blessing. Once on a backroad day trip we passed a cow as the calf emerged. Stopped keeping our distance and watched for a short while. Mom was just in pasture by her lonesome. She went straight to work cleaning up the babe. Thanks for sharing these beauties. XX
ReplyDelete"Nothing screams nature more than the mum-and-bub cycle of life..." And the pic illustrates that powerfully.
ReplyDelete