Ancient White Park Cattle

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librarian

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Does anyone have practical experience with this breed?
They are reputed to have several primitive traits, including their grazing behavior.
I am wondering what characterizes their grazing behavior as primitive?
Ancient White Park is the horned breed that was enclosed in Parks in 13th century Britain, not British Whites.
Although these in the picture are"Welsh White", the White Parks I saw had this shape horns, white with black tips. The Chillingham type have larger, lyre shaped horns.
 

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knabe

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a guy near san luis obispo has had some for years.  he lives adjacent to some fields to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo


i must say i was startled to see them there when i went to school there.


they are beautiful.



 

librarian

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I went to borrow some bags of cement mix from my Amish neighbor and saw these cattle.
He brought them from Iowa and aquired them from Seedsavers. He wants to sell them because any niche market is too remote and the calves won't bring anything at the sale barn. It's on my conscience to salvage the genetics.
They are exactly as in the old photos.
DNA
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2052/asset/homepages/Full_paper_eg.pdf;jsessionid=965320206AB010F1C03C6E8A5C03F41B.f01t03?v=1&s=1dbfc9160f1bce054c5b91448828907d086a8f68&isAguDoi=false

I've been planning to begin a conservation grazing program with Galloways in woodland prairie. That's why I'm curious about the grazing behavior. I thought Galloway because of their browsing habit and preference for woody areas. Maybe the White Park are similar.
 

knabe

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cows like trees.  what grazing behavior are you talking about.


most animals in the world are found in transitions between ecotypes, along the corridor of the junction of grassland, trees, trees, and tree-line, water and land, stream and land etc. anyone who survives not in these transition areas have extended energy conservation tools.

 

librarian

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On Galloway, I only have my own observation of my own cattle of various breeds.
Bulls are individuals with their own notions, so my observations are grossly generalized.
Nonetheless, my Galloway bull consistently took the herd into the brush and trees during the day. My Shorthorn bull, Angus bull and Devon bull kept the cows in the open or under isolated trees. I switched from the Galloway to the Devon in midsummer one year. The cows (Angus and Shorthorn) had become accustomed to spending the heat of the day deep in the shade of the creek bottom with the Galloway bull. The Devon was laying out in the sun all day, just at the pasture edge as you described, and wanted the cows to do the same. I swear I could read their minds as they beheld their new King, thinking, " where did this idiot come from?"
And, I have seen the Galloways plow thru dogwood and viburnum, young multiflora rose and all manner of thicket stripping the leaves wwherr even a Hereford would not go. I have seen the reaching as far as possible for branches when there is grass all around them and the non Galloways had no interest in the leaves.
I had another pasture that was half old hayfield and half successional trees and brush. The Shorthorns never went into the brush, even in wind and snow. They would back up to it, but not go in. The Galloways were in the thick brush about half the time.
 

mark tenenbaum

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Virginia Sometimes Iowa and Kansas
There are some White parks around- Ive seen them on display by thier assoc, in Denver-and Wengers-of Wengers Farm Machinery in PA- (good way to find the herd-big  machinery and parts outfit) have a herd near Harrisburg PA I believe. As far as Galloways going thru the brambles and bushes- go figure, they probably have the most impervious haircoat of any cattle-next to the curly haired Herefords-I would think Highlanders wouldnt want to go back in there either-they look like they may have finer hair-which would get snagged O0
 
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