FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



ZEBU 



The Zebu (Bos indicus), also known 

 as the humped ox or humped cattle of 

 India, includes not only the various do- 

 mestic cattle of India, but also a num- 

 ber of races which have run wild. At 

 present the wild form of zebu is prac- 

 tically extinct in India. The finest 

 zebus are found in India, but they ex- 

 tend eastward to Japan and westward 

 into Africa. Many breeds of Indian 

 cattle or domesticated zebu have been 

 recognized, viz: Mysore, Nellore, Gu- 

 jarat, Sind, Gir, Aden, Hill, Village and 



Thus, the milk yield in the hybrids 

 varied from 1 to 5 quarts a day. More- 

 over, the temper of the hybrids entirely 

 unsuited them for any work as draft an- 

 imals. The meat was of excellent flavor. 

 Recently Mares has experimented with 

 hybrid zebus in Algeria. He found that 

 not only the pure zebu, but also mixtures 

 with common cattle containing the 

 slightest trace of zebu blood, were im- 

 mune to Texas fever. This is of con- 

 siderable importance in countries badly 

 infected with this disease. It appears 

 that not all zebus are equally good for 



"Fig. 441 — ZEBU BULL AND COW IN DOMESTICATION 

 (From Photo by D. Grfflths) 



Burmese breeds. The introduction of 

 the common breeds of cattle, such as we 

 are familiar with, has not been very suc- 

 cessful, for the reason that our cattle 

 are more susceptible to rinderpest than 

 are the zebus. Consequently, India de- 

 pends on her zebu and buffalo, which 

 latter is the same as the carabao of the 

 Philippines. Hybrids between zebus 

 and common cattle in India have proved 

 rather delicate and hard to rear. 



Crosses and hybrids — Nathusius 

 crossed a zebu bull on Shorthorn and 

 Holland cows, but found that the hy- 

 brids were too small and gave too little 

 milk to be of economic importance. 



crossing. The Madagascar zebus have 

 poor meat qualities and those from 

 Cochin China are too small for produc- 

 ing hybrids. Mares found the Brah- 

 min zebu best. Its average weight is 

 about 790 pounds, with a dressed weight 

 of 495 pounds, or 62 per cent. These 

 hybrids give about 16 quarts of rich 

 milk a day. The meat is of excellent 

 quality and the animals are of beef 

 form. The zebu have been imported in 

 small numbers into the Philippines, 

 where they are being tested to determine 

 their value. 



In Porto Pico some of the native cat- 

 tle, especially the bulls, show a hump. 



