The Fleckvieh cattle are a dual-purpose breed of cattle which are raised for both milk and meat production. It originated from Central European country Austria in the 19th century.
It was developed from cross-breeding of local stock with the Simmental cattle breed which was imported from Switzerland in about 1830. The breed had good milk-producing, meat and draught qualities and were a multipurpose breed.
But now the Fleckvieh cattle are a dual-purpose breed and raised for both milk and meat production. They can be used for crossing with dairy or with meat cattle breeds.
Currently the breed is available in many countries throughout the world. They are mainly available in Hungary, Switzerland, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Peru, Uruguay and Paraguay.
Today there are about 41 million animals available throughout the world. Read more information about the breed below.
Fleckvieh Cattle Characteristics
Fleckvieh cattle are medium to large animals with red pied or solid red color. They can be either horned or polled. Average height of the mature bulls is about 150-165 cm at the withers, and about 140-150 cm for the bulls.
Average live body weight of the mature cows vary from 700 to 800 kg. And live body weight of the mature bulls is between 1100 and 1300 kg. Photo and info from Wikipedia.
Uses
Fleckvieh cattle are dual-purpose animals. They are suitable and raised for both milk and meat production.
Special Notes
The Fleckvieh cattle are noted for their longevity, fertility, udder health, somatic cell count, milking speed, calving ease and persistence. A large percentage of the young animals are on alpine grazing which results in good overall health and longevity of life.
A comparison was made between the rates of muscle growth and energy use of Fleckvieh bulls as compared to the German Black Pied bulls. The Fleckvieh bulls had faster growth rates, the carcasses had a smaller proportion of fat, especially abdominal fat, and the animals could be slaughtered at an earlier date on similar diets.
Meat of the the Fleckvieh cattle is of good quality. And the breed is also good for milk production. The cows on average can produce about 6,000 kg of milk in the first lactation, and over 7,000-9,000 kg milk in the later lactations.
Their milk is of good quality containing about 4.2 percent of butterfat content and about 3.7 percent of protein. Review full breed profile of the Fleckvieh cattle in the following chart.
| Breed Name | Fleckvieh | |
| Other Name | None | |
| Breed Purpose | Milk and meat | |
| Special Notes | Hardy, active, well adapted to native climates, good quality meat, longevity, docile temperament, good for milk | |
| Breed Size | Medium to large | |
| Bulls | 1100-1300 kg | |
| Cows | 700-800 kg | |
| Climate Tolerance | Native climates | |
| Coat Color | Mainly red pied or solid red | |
| Horned | Yes or polled | |
| Milk Yield | Very good | |
| Rarity | Common | |
| Country/Place of Origin | Austria |
