Some Questions, Remarks and Answers:


1.      "What about the horns?"

Nguni cattle have been personally cared for by pastoralist for more than 6000 yrs. The establishment of the social structure of the herd and the herd-human interactions include the very discreet handling of a set of horns. Many butchers prefer Nguni cattle with horns. They claim that bruising by polled cattle is worse since gentle probing is replaced in de-horned cattle with fierce thumping by the polled head. Horns in a Nguni herd is very effectively used to protect the herd from predators.

At Genesis we keep the functionality and pride of the Nguni stud in place by keeping the horns. We have lost precious young calves to Dingo's from polled mothers, but have never lost a Nguni cow's calf to a wild dogs.

Due to commercial demand we do de-horn our commercial cattle (Nguni X cattle) at Genesis. We select for the pole gene in our stud for the benefit of our commercial herd.


2.    "I don't like the colours. Cattle should be black, white or brown"

We appreciate a personal / traditional preference for a single color in cattle. However, the quest for colour, variety and profit might still grow on you...  

Nguni cattle has been described as the most beautiful cattle in the world. Besides the exciting and easy identification of individuals in the herd, their colourful hides are a separate well sought after commodity that adds to your revenue stream












3.     "Nguni cattle are too small"

We appreciate the great impression of a large animal and even the expectation of a large profit per unit. However this entails a double fallacy for the dry tropics of the southern hemisphere...

Bos taurus africanus (the original Bos Taurus of the southern hemisphere) has achieved through natural selection over 6000 years the ideal body weight for the region - cows 250-350Kg and bulls 600-700Kg. Maintaining this weight ensures high fertility, optimal heat and disease resistance, longevity (cows producing calves for up to 18yrs and longer) as well as maintaining good condition in droughts.

The general commercial principal of high turnover = high profit equates equally to cattle farming. By determining your carrying capacity in kilogram / hectare you would easy calculate your increase in unit-capacity for smaller units and the resultant increase in turnover. On some brahman properties in Queensland this could result in up to 200% and increase in profit ...



                        



Nguni

a paradigm shift

for profit and pleasure

in cattle farming