Boran Cattle

Description

Description
Boran Cattle
The Boran developed in eastern Africa, more specifically the Borana plateau in southern Ethiopia. This area was where all the different breeds migrated through to their various destinations in Africa. The Boran developed into the dominant breed of eastern Africa and especially in Kenya. Where the Kenyan Boran Cattle Breeders’ Society (BCBS) have bred the “Improved Boran.
Boran Cattle
The Boran is medium in size with a short head, small ears, loose dewlap and a large hump. Above the shoulders they can be horned or polled. They vary in height from 114cm to 147cm tall, and in weight bulls weigh approximately 500kg to 850kg. Cows weigh about 380kg to 450kg Their skin is loose, thick and extremely pliable for added insect repellence plus it is dark pigmented with fine short hair for heat tolerance. Hair colour can be a range of colours except brindle.
Why are Boran bulls so expensive?
According to the cattle site, a Boran is not a synthetic or compound breed that has been crossbred in the past few decades. “It has been bred as a pure breed for 1,300 years. The importance of this to the commercial breeder is the Boran will have much stronger hybrid vigour than modern compound breeds.”
Boran heifers reach puberty at an average age of 385 days.
How do you identify a Boran cow?
Boran cattle have small, slightly convex ears. They are not long and pendulous like those of other Bos indicus. They have a hump above the shoulders and a loose dewlap and umbilical fold. There can be horned, polled or have scurs.
What are the advantages of eland over Boran cattle?
Reported advantages of the eland over the cattle included much lower water requirement, faster breeding and growth, earlier maturity and ability to put on weight in grazing conditions under which the Boran cattle began to lose weight and approximately 14 % higher dressing out weight.