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Breeds of Cattle and Their Habitat
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Cattle in South Africa can be divided into two main groups namely the Dairy cattle breeds and Beef cattle breeds. A large number of different breeds exist in each group with Jersey, Holstein and Ayrshire as some of the popular Dairy breeds and the Afrikaner, Simmentaler, Brahaman and Nguni as some of the popular Beef breeds. As with sheep, a lot of the breeds originate from crossbreeding programs to improve the milk, meat or milk and meat properties.
Cattle are found around the globe and the races in South Africa are bred from different breeds locally and internationally. Cattle can be divided into two families, the Bos Taurus family which originate in the European countries and include races such as the Charolais and the Limousin, and the Bos indicus family which include the American and African races such as the Angus, the Brahaman and the Boran. The local or African races are commonly referred to as Zebu cattle.
The Bos indicus cattle types usually have a smaller body frame, lower metabolic rate, a shinier coat to reflect heat, better fertility and maternal instinct, better adaptability and more resistance to external parasites and tick-borne diseases than the Bos Taurus types of cattle. The Bos indicus cattle also have better quality meat.
In South Africa, almost all the types of beef cattle are rounded off in fattening units before being sent to the market for slaughter. Especially the Bos Taurustypes are extremely difficult to get market ready from the field. Bull calves from Dairy cattle that cannot be used in the dairy sector also make out a relatively large proportion of the fattening unit stock in the country.
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