Climate Change
The centre piece of an Nguni cattle’s body resembles the shape of a rugby ball. They further dissipate heat through the loose slick skin. As a result of their high concentration of sweat glands they sweat more effectively in high temperatures. The Nguni’s smooth shiny coat reflects the ultraviolet rays keeping the body temperature normal. The Nguni is one of the best adapted cattle breeds. The Nguni are an ideal breed.
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The Size, Growth Condition improves Fertility
A small, early maturing cow is a lot more productive than an average big framed later maturing type. The reason is that the large animal needs more food to reach the same condition point as that of the smaller framed animal under the same conditions. This ensures the smaller framed animal to put on weight, grow and conceive early thus improving her fertility and intercalving period.
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Meat Quality of Nguni Cattle
One of the most important characteristics of meat quality is tenderness. The Nguni is known for its tenderness while grazing grass. It was found that there is a relatively high incidence of gene markers for meat tenderness among Nguni cattle and that Nguni crossbreeds had a higher index for combinations of such genes .xde4r5
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Natural attributes of Nguni cattle
* Exceptional fertility - *Natural resistance to ticks and tickborne diseases - *Easy calving
* Excellent temperament - *Longevity - *Heat tolerance
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Cows
Nguni Cows are feminine and have a prominent wedge shape with their forequarters lighter than their hindquarters. They are cow hocked and have a sloping rump, which is a distinctive characteristic ensuring ease of calving. The average weight of calves at birth is 22kg.The udder is small to medium and with well attached small functional teats. Cows weigh between 300 – 550 kg. Cows calve annually and on average can give between 10-15 calves in their lifetime.
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Bulls
Nguni Bulls are medium sized and weigh between 500- 750 kg.
They have a cervico – thoracic hump (situated in front of their shoulder and on their neck) which is muscular and not fatty. Their testes are of functional size and shape equal in size and not hypoplastic. The scrotum is well pigmented with well developed thermoregulatory function. Their sheath is small and not pendulous.
Bulls are used to open heifers of other breeds as they ensure small birth weight calves.
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