Herens
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The Herens is a breed of cattle named after the Val d'Hérens region of Switzerland.
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[edit] Characteristics
The Herens Cattle is one of the smallest cattle breeds of Europe. They have a dark red until black-brown fur. Pied animals are very seldom. The short and broad head is very typical - it has a concave front line. The animals are very musculous; both sexes have strong horns.
The height of the bulls represents 125 - 134 cm, the heigh of the cows 118 - 128 cm. They reach a heigh of 650 - 700 kg and accordingly 500 - 600 kg. They are beef accentuated, but their milk performance is around 3,200 kg per year. The cattle is modest and adaptive. They are good adapted on pasture in alpine altitudes.
[edit] Breeding history
The forefathers of this breed may have come already with the Romans to the region of the today's canton Valais. 1884 they constituted a breeding standard for this old breed. 1917 an own breeding union was founded.
Herens Cattle was often used to breed other cattle breeds in the alpine region. For example the Tux Cattle, the Évolène Cattle, and the Pustertal Pied Cattle may originate from the Herens Cattle. Die population of the Herens Cattle has decreased since the 1960s. In the year 2000 the population was about 13,500 animals. Purebred bulls are on an insemination station in Neuchâtel.
[edit] The cow fighting
Herens Cattle is a breed with a high aggression potential of the females, too. In the springtime cows and heifers fight one against another in five weight classes. The winners are sold for high prices. Today cow fights are a major tourist attraction in the Valais.
