Santa-Gertrudis-Rind

Santa-Gertrudis-Rind.

The Santa Gertrudis beef is a cattle breed from Texas in the US.

It was bred at the King Ranch in South Texas. The name comes from Santa Gertrudis Creek, which flows through the ranch.

Officially, the breed was recognized in 1940 and became the first breed in the United States. On the King Ranch bulls of the Zebu breed Brahman were crossed with meat-Shorthorn cows. The offspring were crossed again according to a certain pattern, so that the breed now ultimately consists of 3/8 Brahman and 5/8 Shorthorn. However, there are hardly any or no records of the early crossroads and the crossings were carried out on open terrain. To all the abundance, the King Ranch had no pure-blooded Brahman bulls and had to buy them.

There is also a rumor that Monkey, the father of the race - all today's Santa Gertrudis originate from him, had an African father (Zebu) and a milk Shorthorn mother. The constant deep red color of the Santa Gertrudis also fits much better to the Africans than to the Brahmans. The high milk production (which is reflected in the rapid growth of the calves and high market-fasting annual weights) would also fit well with the milk shorthorn. The cows, which were covered by Monkey, can, of course, originate from Brahman and meat Shorthorn cattle. All this would mean that Santa Gertrudis is even a four-race crossing.

Whatever the early history of breeding is, Santa Gertrudis is today considered a meat breed. The adult animals are very large and have long legs (a great advantage in the cactus land). They have high heat tolerance and parasite resistance and are ideally suited to desert and semi-desert climates where large temperature fluctuations occur. Weblinks Edit sourcetext

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