Skip to main content

Welsh Black Cattle

The Welsh Black cattle breed is a dual purpose animal which is raised for both meat and milk production. The breed is native to Wales. And it descended from cattle of Pre-Roman Britain in the rough mountain and hill country of Wales.

It has been suggested that the breed is based on cattle from the Iberian Peninsula. And there is evidence that the breed, or its forerunners, existed in Roman times. The black cattle have definitely been bred and raised in Wales and it's surrounding areas for well over thousand years.

Originally there were two distinct strains of Welsh Black cattle. One is the compact sturdy North Wales type and another is the bigger, rangier South Wales type. Both types are known as dual purpose animal.

Today these animals are established throughout the United Kingdom. And they are also performing well from Canada to New Zealand. Welsh Black cattle first arrived in Canada in 1970 via the United States and further direct importations have followed.

There are also good numbers of this animal are available in the United States. But today the breed is on the list of endangered native breeds in Wales. Read more information about this cattle breed below.

welsh black cattle, about welsh black cattle, welsh black cattle breed, welsh black cattle breed facts, welsh black cattle info, welsh black cattle care, caring welsh black cattle, welsh black cattle color, welsh black cattle coat color, welsh black cattle characteristics, welsh black cattle facts, welsh black cattle for meat, welsh black cattle for milk, welsh black cattle farms, welsh black cattle farming, welsh black cattle history, welsh black cattle hair, welsh black cattle info, welsh black cattle images, welsh black cattle meat, welsh black cattle milk, welsh black cattle origin, welsh black cattle pictures, welsh black cattle photos, welsh black cattle rarity, raising welsh black cattle, welsh black cattle rearing, welsh black cattle size, welsh black cattle temperament, welsh black cattle uses, welsh black cattle weight

Welsh Black Cattle Characteristics

Welsh Black cattle are large sized animal. As the name suggests, these cattle are naturally black in color. The breed is naturally horned, but there are also naturally polled (hornless) strains. In the horned strain, the animals usually have white horns with black tips.

These animals in some other colors were more common in the past. And red colored animals occur occasionally. Average live body weight of the mature cows is about 600-800 kg.

And the mature bulls on average weight about 950-1150 kg, and sometimes more. Photo and info from ansi.okstate.edu and Wikipedia.

Uses

The Welsh Black cattle are dual purpose animal. They are good for both meat and milk production. But they are most suitable for commercial meat production.

Special Notes

Welsh Black cattle are very hardy animals. And their hardy nature coupled with their habit of browsing as well as grazing makes them ideal for rough pasture. They are well suited to the healthland and moorland, and for conservation grazing.

The cows are pretty good milk producers. And the breed is very good for meat production. They are also very good for commercial beef production. However review full breed profile of this breed in the following table.

Breed NameWelsh Black
Other NameNone
Breed PurposeMeat, Milk
Special NotesActive, Hardy, Excellent Forager
Breed SizeHeavy
BullsAbout 600-800 kg
CowsAbout 950-1150 kg
Climate ToleranceAll Climates
Coat ColorBlack
HornedYes/Polled
Milk YieldGood
RarityCommon
Country/Place of OriginWales

Comments

Popular Posts

Murray Grey Cattle

The Murray Grey cattle are a breed of beef cattle from Australia. It was developed in the upper Murray River valley on the New South Wales. The breed was developed in 1905 from an initial chance mating of a black Aberdeen Angus bull and a roan Shorthorn cow during the Federation drought. From these matings the resulting thirteen dun-grey calves were kept as curiosities. And then Peter and Ena Sutherland bred them on the Thologolong property along the Murray River in New South Wales. Murray Grey cattle grew faster and were good converters of feed and produced quality carcases. These are the reasons this animals become very popular after their development. And local farmers became interested soon in these animals and began breeding them. The first large scale commercial farms were established in the 1940s. Today the breed is available in many countries. Both live Murray Grey cattle and embryos have been exported to many countries such as Canada, South America, New Ze...

Sorting Cattle

Sorting cattle is important if you have a large number of animals. For better management you will need to separate the animals into different groups depending on their age, size, gender or condition score. If some cattle of your herd need to be examined by a veterinarian or confined due to injury or illness, then separation may also need to be done. Sorting is also needed for separating the calves that need to be weaned from their mothers. And separating the bulls is also necessary after they have done their duty with breeding cows. Sorting Cattle Sorting cattle is not actually a difficult task. It can be done easily if you understand stockmanship principles that take advantage of bovine psychology and behavior. However, here we are describing more about the ways of sorting cattle. Sorting From a Squeeze Chute In this system you can move your cattle through a working corral into a chute system into the squeeze. In this system you can check and process animals f...

Andalusian Black Cattle Farming

Andalusian Black cattle farming is not too popular, even in it's native area. It is a relatively rare breed which is valued for meat production. But today, the breed is listed as 'endangered', and total number of the breed is very less. The Andalusian Black cattle is a taurine cattle breed, and it was originated in west Andalusia, Spain. It is also known by some other names such as Negra de las Campiñas, Negra Campiñesa and Spanish: Negra Andaluza. The Andalusian Black cattle is actually a beef cattle breed which is raised primarily for meat production purpose. The breed is found in two main areas of west Andalusia (from Cordova to the foothills of the Sierra Morena), and in the provinces of Seville, Cádiz and Huelva. Today, total population of the Andalusian Black cattle breed is very less. And there were about 800 purebred cattle in the year of 2007. Total number of this breed decreased mainly for crossbreeding with other local cattle breeds. Other reason...

Belted Galloway Cattle Farming

Belted Galloway cattle farming is popular, especially in it's native area. It is a beef cattle breed and raised mainly for meat production purpose. The breed is also known by some other names such as Beltie, Oreo Cow and Panda Cow. The Belted Galloway cattle breed was originated from Galloway in the west side of Southern Scotland. It is a heritage breed, and is well adapted to living on the poor upland pastures and wildswept moorlands of the region. Exact origins of the breed are unclear. But it is often surmised that the white belt of the breed may be a result of cross breeding with the Dutch Lakenvelder belted cattle. And the breed is named so mainly because of the belt. An association for the breed named the Belted Galloway Association was formed in 1921 in Scotland. And the name of the association was changed to Belted Galloway Society in the year of 1951. The association keeps and records pedigrees for Belted Galloways and oversees the registration of White and Re...

Cleaning A Cow

Cleaning a cow in the proper way can keep the animal look and feel fresh. Cleaning also help to prevent external parasites. You may also need to clean your cow to show it off at your local county fair or other occasions. And you need to clean your cows more often especially if you have dairy cows. You can integrate a spraying system for cleaning a cow once a day or so. Along with cleaning the body, you should also provide a footbath for better health of the cow's hooves. However, here we are describing more about the process of cleaning a cow. Sprinkler System Add Sprinkler in a Pre-milking Wash Pen You can construct a pre-milking wash pen with sprinklers for cleaning multiple cows. In this system, install sprinklers all along the pen you hold the cows in before milking. Using concrete for the floor will be good. It will help to keep the floor dry quickly and you will not have a constantly muddy area. You should spray sprinklers both up and down to wash the cows th...

Agerolese Cattle Farming

Agerolese cattle farming is not common, even in it's native area. It is a dairy cattle breed which is raised mainly for milk production purpose in it's native area. It is a pretty rare breed and not available outside it's native area. The Agerolese cattle is actually from the area of Agerola, in Campania in southern Italy. It was developed from cross-breeding of indigenous Podolica cattle with Bruna Italiana, Italian Holstein-Friesian and Jersey cattle. The breed is particularly associated with the Sorrento Peninsula and Monti Lattari. The Agerolese cattle is one of the 16 minor Italian cattle breeds of limited diffusion recognized and protected by the Ministero delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali, the Italian ministry of agriculture. There were a total of 200 animals available according to a census completed on 1 January 2002. And the conservation status of the Agerolese cattle breed was reported by the FAO as 'endangered-maintained' in 200...

Ankole-Watusi Cattle Farming

Ankole-Watusi cattle farming is pretty popular, especially in it's native area. It is a multi-purpose breed of domestic cattle which is raised and valued for show, draught, meat and milk production purpose. The Ankole-Watusi cattle is a landrace breed, a type of Sanga cattle and originally native to East Africa. It is also known as Ankole Longhorn, and also sometimes known simply as Ankole or Watusi. Ankole-Watusi cattle is actually an ancient breed, and ancient rock paintings and depictions of these animals have been observed in the Sahara region and in the Egyptian arts and pyramid walls. The Sanga breed has spread to the Sudan, Uganda, Kenya and some other parts of Eastern Africa, becoming the base stock of the indigenous African cattle populations. It has most of the usual Zebu characteristics such as the pendulous dewlap and sheath, hump of variable size and the upturned horns. The Ankole-Watusi cattle have played a very important role in the lives of various ...