The Ukrainian Grey cattle is a multi-purpose breed from Ukraine. It is an ancient breed of cattle, which descended from European steppe cattle. And the breed is similar to some other cattle breeds such as the Hungarian Grey cattle and Italy’s Podolica cattle.
The Ukrainian Grey cattle are also known by some other names such as Ukrainian Grey Steppe, Seraya ukrainskaya, Seroukrainskaya, Ukrainian Steppe Cattle or Ukrainian: Сіра українська порода, Sira ukrayin’ska.
The breed was widely distributed over most of the Ukraine in the last century. Ukrainian Grey cattle breed fully met the requirements of small peasant farms, mainly due to it’s hardiness, modest nutritional requirements, good working abilities and excellent grazing abilities.
Numbers of this cattle breed are decreasing gradually. And their numbers have been low since the 1980s, at around one thousand head or less. Today, it’s a rare breed. It is included in the Slow Food Ark of Taste. Read more information about the Ukrainian Grey cattle below.
Ukrainian Grey Cattle Characteristics
As the name suggests, the Ukrainian Grey cattle are grey or light-grey in color and the bulls have a darker neck, chest and legs. They are large sized animals with well developed muscles. They are tall, rather leggy and long-bodied animals.
Both bulls and cows have horns with black horn tips. Average body weight of the Ukrainian Grey bulls is about 1100 kg. And the cows on average weight about 750 kg. Info from FAO and Wikipedia.
Uses
Ukrainian Grey cattle are multi purpose animals. They are used for both meat and milk production. And also used as draft animals.
Special Notes
The Ukrainian Grey cattle are very hardy animals. They are pretty good for meat and have been used for meat for long time. The cows are also pretty good milk producers.
On average a cow produce about 2457-2921 kg of milk per lactation. Their milk are of great quality and contain about 4.23-4.26 percent fat. Review full breed profile of this cattle breed in the following table.
| Breed Name | Ukrainian Grey |
| Other Name | Ukrainian Grey Steppe, Seraya ukrainskaya, Seroukrainskaya, Ukrainian Steppe Cattle or Ukrainian: Сіра українська порода, Sira ukrayin’ska |
| Breed Purpose | Meat, Milk, Draft |
| Special Notes | Active, Hardy, Excellent Forager |
| Breed Size | Heavy |
| Bulls | About 750 kg |
| Cows | About 1100 kg |
| Climate Tolerance | All Climates |
| Coat Color | Grey or light-grey |
| Horned | Yes |
| Milk Yield | Good |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Country/Place of Origin | Ukraine |
