How to Identify Pinzgauer Cattle
Co-authored by Karin Lindquist
This article was co-authored by Karin Lindquist, a trusted member of wikiHow's community. Karin Lindquist earned a BSc in Agriculture as an Animal Science major from the University of Alberta, Canada. She has over 20 years of experience working with cattle and crops. She's worked for a mixed-practice veterinarian, as a sales representative in a farm supply store, and as a research assistant doing rangeland, soil, and crop research. She currently works as a forage and beef agriculture extension specialist, advising farmers on a variety of issues relating to their cattle and the forages they grow and harvest. Learn more...
This is an in-depth guide of how to identify Pinzgauer cattle.
Do a search on the Internet or your cattle breeds book on "Pinzgauer" cattle.
Study the characteristics of the breed. Note the following:
Colouration: Pinzgauers are primarily a deep chestnut red color, and have white on their topline, barrel, tails and rump.
Body type and characteristics: Pinzgauers are large-framed cattle; mature bulls average at least 2000 lbs, and mature cows average around 1000 to 1600 lbs. This breed is a beef breed with the characteristics to be quite beefy like Simmentals are. Pinz's have smooth hair and firm flexible skin that helps prevent tick and other insect infestations.
Head characteristics: Pinzgauers can be polled or horned. In comparison to other breeds, the head of a Pinz tends to be not as fine as Angus, but more robust and coarse like that of Simmentals or even Charolais. They also tend to be long in the face like Simmental or Chianinas.
Other characteristics: Pinzgauer cattle originated in Bavaria, but were not recognized as a breed until the 1600's when the designation "Pinzgauer" is derived from the "Pinzgau" district in the province of Salzburg, Austria. There are also records of pinz's being exported to Romania, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia in the 1820's. In the early 1900s a number of breeding animals were exported to South Africa, which now has the second largest fullblood Pinzgauer breeding herd in the world.
Pinzgauers are more of a beef-type animal than dairy, although this breed can be considered as a dual-purpose breed. This breed is able to produce, on average, 4000 to 5000 kg of milk per year. Pinz's tend to eat a lot of forage, yet have good temperament, maternal qualities, and fertility, and easy calving ability. They also have good carcass qualities, with a slaughter yield of 56-58%.
Memorize the details and characteristics of this breed.
Go on a field trip or road trip and see if you can find farms and ranches with Pinzgauer cattle. Take pictures of what you thought were Pinzgauer cattle, and compare them with pictures of Pinzgauer on the Internet and in your cattle breeds book.
Some may confuse Pinzgauers with Gloucester cattle.
Gloucesters are generally smaller and a lot of cattle have less white on them than a general Pinzgauer would.
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This article was co-authored by Karin Lindquist, a trusted member of wikiHow's community. Karin Lindquist earned a BSc in Agriculture as an Animal Science major from the University of Alberta, Canada. She has over 20 years of experience working with cattle and crops. She's worked for a mixed-practice veterinarian, as a sales representative in a farm supply store, and as a research assistant doing rangeland, soil, and crop research. She currently works as a forage and beef agriculture extension specialist, advising farmers on a variety of issues relating to their cattle and the forages they grow and harvest.
Categories: Cattle Breeds
Karin Lindquist
BsC in Agriculture, Animal Science