Drakensberger Cattle
Pure Drakensberger cattle bred in QLD, Australia
Why Drakensberger?
Parasite Resistance
Drakensberger cattle have several characteristics that help them cope with parasites such as flies and ticks. We believe they have particularly effective piloerector muscles, as when they are being bothered by flies they look two-toned, the front part of their body that can't be reached by their swishing tail is a totally different shade of black due to the hair being made to stand erect.
They don’t seem to suffer too much from blight. A lot of our Jerseys suffer while only one or two of the younger Drakensbergers had it when the flies were particularly bad. We gave them access to more minerals and the issue resolved itself with no treatment or lasting symptoms.
We did not ‘blood’ any of our Drakensbergers when we first got them as we wanted to prove their resistance to tick borne diseases. All survived in an area that the DPI zoned as one of the worst for ticks. People in the same area can lose up to 10% of animals due to tick fever. 'Barry', the young bull we first purchased had never had any exposure to ticks and whilst he did get them (and we treated him) he never got tick fever. We have also moved seven cows from Thargomindah to the coast without treatment and so can confidently say that they do not die of red water as the other black breeds may do. They can certainly get ticks on them, especially when stressed however despite appearances, production has not suffered. Quite a few never have a tick on them at all even under significant external pressure, and these form a key cohort in our selection moving forward.
Grazing Characteristics
We currently have our cows in the South Burnett region. Prior to that they were around the Pomona area of the Sunshine Coast for a little over 12 months. Drakensbergers are known to produce well on wet tropical grasses of high moisture and low nutritional content, known as ‘sour veldt’. When we first purchased the cows and took them to Pomona they were emaciated. They did indeed pick up quickly there and would present good fattening genetics to a coastal grazier.
Prior to our purchase of the cows, they had been all over the place including up at a property near Moura. The owner called them "flat back leaf eaters" and said that he would never have let them go if he’d realised what they had contributed to his herd. They hoover through plants that are supposedly toxic, particularly tobacco bush which they really seem to enjoy.
'Stinger', the 2009 embryo bull that was sold up into North Qld as a two year old, has lived through some extremely tough times on a hard property. That owner said that he had outlasted all his Brahmans. He went through a lot of change when we picked him up, and without any treatment he has forged ahead.
In summary they have demonstrated versatility in response to a variety of environments and stresses.
Temperament
Another observation is the Drakensbergers inherent quiet temperament. Cows that had been roaming wild in a 15,000 acre paddock were able to be kept behind a single stand of electric fence after a few days. Within a week we could easily walk through the herd without disturbance, and this was without hand feeding.
All our weaners and younger animals are extremely quiet and some will walk up within arms reach for a curious look.
We never have any trouble in the yards and haven’t yet experienced any highly strung animals. Even the mothers with young calves will let you walk amongst them.
Interested in a bull?
We have a range of locally adapted bulls for sale.