Zimbabwe Herd Book No4

ZIMBABWE HERD BOOK-YEAR OF THE NKONE 2023

NEWSLETTER FROM HHN and MH NKONE STUDS

No 4 (23rd OCTOBER 2022)

By SEKURU

Size does matter!

A few days ago, I posted a photo of a Nguni cow suckling a massive 7-month-old Senepol X bull calf. This created a lot of favourable interest and comments and achieved what I intended it to. It showed what an incredible mother the Nguni or Nkone can be, and I have seen the same with little Mashona cows and their crossbred Sussex calves on Waterloo Farm, Macheke when Pips Peech had his Mashona there.

As a hardy, environmentally adapted maternal breed and Alpha mother cow, the Nkone is hard to beat as long as we keep selecting and breeding for the characteristics which made it a superior mother cow. One of the most important characteristics of the Nkone is moderate size which is sustainable in hard conditions on natural grazing.

In my view, the ideal mature weight for our Nkone cows is around 380 kg, producing a calf weighing at 45-50% of the cow’s weight at weaning at 7 months, (170 to 190kg). These weights mean you can carry 1,3 Nkone on your grazing in place of every cow of a large breed.

Our first-calving Nkone heifer 19-0002MH which calved at 28 months, must have a large amount of milk to raise her outstanding bull calf 21-0032MH seen in the accompanying photo, sucking at 4,5 months of age. 21-0032MH had a birth weight of 35kg, weaned at 220 days weighing 213kg. His ADG from birth to weaning was 800 grams per day and his weaning ratio was 128,3.

Our overall averages at weaning for 2020 and 2021 calf crops compared to results from Tsholotsho Breeding Station (the home of the breed) in 1973 is as follows –

HHN and MH Nkone Tsholotsho 1973

Heifers

Birth Weight Average 29,85 kg 22,7 kg

Age at Weaning 211 days 210 days

Average Weight 144 kg 150 kg

Daily Gain Birth to Wean 558 grams 606 grams

Weaner/Cow Ratio 37% 35,7%

Average Calves Weaned 83,5% (42 Days) 88% (90 Days)

Bulls

Birth Weight Average 31,4 kg 27,2 kg

Age at Weaning 211 days 210 days

Average Weight 150 kg 170 kg

Daily Gain Birth to Wean 573 grams 680 grams

Weaner/Cow Ratio 41% 40%

The above figures are very interesting and I would NOT like to see our birth weights increase from where they are now. Increased birth weights equate to increased mature weights. Our weaner weights are a bit low and could go up 20 kg. This would also increase the Weaner/Cow ratio. Tsholotsho chose their replacements based on Average Daily Gain from birth to weaning. They started off at a minimum of 600 grams/day and then increased that to 700 grams/day. This resulted in cows that gave more milk and produced heavier weaners with better Average Daily Gains.

So, we have a very good idea what the average registered Nkone CAN and SHOULD do to enable us to maintain the breed characteristics as was naturally designed, while maintaining its ability to produce a good calf every year in tough environments with minimum purchased inputs. Tsholotsho maintained an average 88% calving rate in a ninety-day calving period for many years.

What about the Nkone in a Terminal Crossbreeding programme? To my mind this is one of the great strengths of the breed and will make its future. We have all seen the pictures of a little 350 kg cow with a very large calf well over 200 kgs and still suckling. The Nkone cow, as long as it has the milk can increase your production dramatically when crossed with a suitable exotic breed that “clicks”.

Your Nkone cow remains the same size and eats the same amount but gives you a considerable increase (as much as 30% -40%) in weaner mass and production with a crossbred calf and this is where Terminal Crossbreeding ensures that you keep the very best and most efficient Alpha Mother Cow and get rid of all crossbred progeny. Your F1 cows are going to be fantastic and inherit a lot of the excellent Nkone traits but their large size will detract from their efficiency and hardiness and reduce the number of cows you can carry. In a Terminal Crossbreeding programme the ideal herd ratio would be 60% purebred Nkone cows with Nkone bulls breeding Nkone replacements for both herds and 40% purebred Nkone cows put to Exotic bulls and all progeny are sold.

“The conservation of indigenous cattle is appropriate because the most rapid and effective livestock improvement can probably best be achieved by the maximum use of animals already adapted to the widely differing local environments, most of which are unsuited to breeds produced in the far less harsh surroundings of the temperate countries. Also, timely, because unless steps are quickly taken to assess the potentialities of the local stock and to ensure not only their conservation but their full use in the future agricultural development of the region, a priceless and irreplaceable asset will almost certainly be lost……”

Norman C. Wright in his foreword to: “The Indigenous Livestock of Eastern and Southern Africa.” (L. Mason and J.P. Maule 1960)

“NKONE, THE ORIGINAL ALPHA MOTHER COW”.