The Hungarian breeds of domestic animals are often seen as national symbols in Hungary. Local national parks serve as “gene banks” to ensure their survival.
Livestock
- Long-horn Hungarian Grey Cattle- traditionally kept in the open all year.
- Racka – a breed of sheep with distinctive horns.
- Mangalica – a breed of pigs, characterised by their long curly hair and relatively fatty meat which makes them ideal for making sausages and salami.
- Cikta sheep
- Nóniusz horse
Hungarian Grey
The Hungarian Grey (Hungarian: Magyar Szürke), also known as Hungarian Steppe Cattle, is an ancient breed of domestic beef cattle indigenous to Hungary.
The breed belongs to the group of Podolic cattle and is well adapted to extensive pasture systems.
History:
The breed probably arrived with the ninth-century Hungarian immigration from the east to the Hungarian lowlands. In the Middle Ages and early modern times the breed was used as a draught animal but from 1861 has been bred for early maturity and its beef quality, being herded live to the markets of Europe. Nowadays Hungarian Grey cattle are kept mainly as tourist attractions in the Hortobágy National Park and other Hungarian national parks. Small herds may be found in a few other places, e.g. Bocfölde, Western Hungary. These herds serve as gene banks, due to their reported resistance to cattle diseases which affect more highly bred cattle types. By 1975 there were only 300 cows left in two herds, but numbers have since increased. The rebound in the cattle numbers is partially due to cryo conservation efforts put forth by the Hungarian government.
Characteristics:
Hungarian Grey cattle are slender and tall. The bulls reach a height of 145 to 155 cm and a weight of 800 to 900 kg, the cows 135 to 140 cm and 500 to 600 kg.
The colour ranges from silvery-white to ash-grey. As in other Podolic breeds, the calves are born wheat-coloured and become grey at about three months old. Hungarian Grey cattle are robust, easy-calving and long-lived. Their horns are directed upward and are long and curved.
Racka
The Racka (pronounced /rɑːtskɑː/ Hungarian [ˈrɒts.kɒ]) or Hortobágy Racka Sheep (Ovis aries strepsiceros hungaricus) is a breed of sheep known for its unusual spiral-shaped horns. These unique appendages are unlike any other domestic sheep horns and may grow up to 2.0 ft (0.61 m) long. The smallest standard length is 20 in (51 cm) for rams and 12–15 in (30–38 cm) for ewes.
The breed has been kept by Hungarians for many centuries. Now the largest stocks are found in the Hortobágy steppes of Hungary and to a lesser extent in Caras Severin, Romania. Because of its unique features, it has been exported in growing numbers to the United Kingdom, the United States and France, while in its home range interest remains limited. It is a hardy, multi-purpose breed used for milking, wool and meat. Their wool is long and coarse and appears in two general types: cream wool with light brown faces and legs, and a black variation. Ewes weigh around 88 lb (40 kg) and ram 132 lb (60 kg).
The breed’s unique appearance and quiet disposition would make it a desirable animal for hobby situations.
Characteristics
This breed is unique with both sexes possessing long spiralling shaped horns, which protrude almost straight upward from the top of the head.
There are two major colour patterns with the Racka. The most common colour is brown wool covering the heads and legs with the fibre varying in colour from dark brown to light brown and white. Individuals can also be solid black. The wool tips on the black-coloured sheep fade to a reddish black with exposure to sunlight and as they get older, the points of the fibre turn grey. The fibre diameter varies within this breed and generally is found to be 12 to 40 micrometres with a yield of 38% to 65%. Staple length is approximately 30 cm (12 in). Fleece weight must be at least 3 kg (6.6 lb) for rams. The softness and crimp of the wool would indicate its interest with hand spinners.
The minimum acceptable mature body weight for ewes is 40 kg (88 lb) and for rams 60 kg (130 lb). The rams average 72 cm (28 in) in height.
Mangalica
The Mangalica (also Mangalitsa or Mangalitza) is a Hungarian breed of domestic pig. It was developed in the mid-19th century by crossbreeding Hungarian breeds from Nagyszalonta and Bakony with the European wild boar and the Serbian Šumadija breed. The Mangalica pig grows a thick, curly coat of hair. The only other pig breed noted for having a long coat is the extinct Lincolnshire Curly Coat pig of England.
History:
The blonde Mangalica variety was developed from older, hardy types of Hungarian pig (Bakonyi and Szalontai) crossed with the European wild boar and a Serbian breed (and later others like Alföldi) in Austro-Hungary (1833). That year, Prince of Serbia Miloš Obrenović sent 12 pigs of the autochthonous Serbian Šumadinka breed, ten sows and two boars. Pigs originally grown at the Prince’s Topčider farm near Belgrade were used to create the Syrmian black lasa breed, also known as the black mangalica. Prince sent the animals to the Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary, on whose estate the new breed was to be created.
The new, quick-growing, “fat-type” hog did not require any special care, which caused it to become very popular in Hungary. In 1927, the National Society of Fat-Type Hog Breeders (Mangalicatenyésztők Országos Egyesülete) was established, with the objective of improving the breed. Mangalica was the most prominent swine breed in the region until 1950 (30,000 of them were in Hungary in 1943). Since then, the popularity, as well as the population of Mangalica, has been decreasing, with the rising availability of food from farther away and refrigeration. In 1991, there were less than 200 remaining Mangalica in Hungary. Monte Nevado, a Spanish company began the breeding and recovery of Mangalica, and they were awarded the Middle Cross of Hungary in 2016. Nowadays, the keeping of Mangalica has become a popular hobby. Slightly over 7,000 Mangalica sows in Hungary are producing around 60,000 piglets a year.
Apart from Hungary, the Mangalica is present in Austria, Canada the Czech Republic, Germany, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Switzerland and the United States. In Serbia, the breed (which is called mangulica in Serbian) almost completely died out in the 1980s. In 1998, Mangalica was introduced into the Zasavica wetlands. They are left to roam free in a reservation, becoming partially feral, with cases of breeding with wild boars known. Came the early 2010s, their number grew to 1,000 in Zasavica and in populations kept in the individual farms in the Syrmia and Mačva regions. As both autochthonous Serbian breeds of the domestic pig, Šiška and Mangalica’s predecessor Šumadinka died out. Mangalica is considered the only surviving autochthonous breed in Serbia. In March 2006, seventeen of the pigs were exported from Austria to the United Kingdom, where they are registered with the British Pig Association. In 2007, some were exported to the United States.
Cikta
The Cikta is a breed of domestic sheep from Hungary. In the 18th century, this breed was brought to Hungary by German settlers. This breed grows wool but is primarily raised for meat. The Cikta belong in the Mountain Group of sheep breeds.
The Cikta is white (unicolored). Rams have horns and ewes are polled (hornless). Typically, horns are small or knob-like. Generally, this breed is adaptable to extreme climates. The ears are erect.
At maturity, rams weigh 37 kg (82 lb) and ewes weigh 45 kg (99 lb). At the withers, rams grow to 55 cm (22 in) and ewes to 47 cm (19 in). Ewes have an average 1.1 lambs per litter,
Nonius horse
The Nonius (Hungarian: Nóniusz) is a Hungarian horse breed named after its Anglo-Norman foundation sire. Generally dark in colour, it is a muscular and heavy-boned breed, similar in type to other light draft and driving horses. The breed was developed at the Imperial Stud at Mezőhegyes, Hungary by careful linebreeding. Originally bred to serve as a light draft and utility horse for Hungary’s military, the breed became a useful agricultural horse during the 20th century. The depredations of World War II significantly reduced the Nonius’ population, and in the decades after the war, a downturn in the usage of horses in Hungary sent many members of the breed to slaughter. Today the breed is bred by preservationists and is used in agriculture, leisure riding, and competitive driving sports. The largest numbers of Nonius horses are still found at Mezőhegyes, with representatives in other eastern European nations as well.
Breed Characteristics:
Close linebreeding during the breed’s establishment and continued use of a closed studbook have contributed to a recognizable and reliably-transmitted type in the Nonius. The vast majority are black, dark bay or brown, either unmarked or modestly marked with white. Bay individuals are more common among the Nonius horses from Hortobágy National Park. The breed is also known for the heavy but proportional head with a convex profile called either a ram’s head or Roman nose. The breed exhibits traits common to heavy-boned driving and light draft horses: powerful and arched high-set neck, broad and muscular back, open but powerful loin, deep and sloping hindquarters. The chest is broad rather than deep and is usually more shallow than the hindquarters. The hooves and joints are large and the legs are dry. Nonius horses stand between 155 to 165 centimetres (15.1 to 16.1 hands; 61 to 65 in). One of the heaviest warmblood driving horses, the ideal Nonius has a girth measurement of 180–210 cm (71–83 in) and a cannon circumference of 22–24 cm (8.7–9.4 in). Nonius horses are also known for a kind, even temperament and great willingness and capacity for work both in harness and under saddle. Also, they are usually easy keepers with high endurance.
Uses:
They are used today in agricultural work, light draft and the sport of combined driving. The popularity of the driving sport in Hungary rose sharply during the 1970s and 1980s. The Combined Driving World Championships are held every 2 years, and the most competitive event features teams of four horses. Of the 6 champions named between 1974 and 1984, all but one were Hungarian. The Nonius is slower and less suitable for other riding sports like dressage and shows jumping than lighter horses. Smaller members of the breed with larger amounts of Arabian blood in their ancestry are more sought after as riding horses. The heavier horses are still commonly used for draft work and are well-adapted to the “heavy terrain” of the Great Hungarian Plain.
The Nonius is commonly crossed with Thoroughbreds to create riding horses with improved jumping ability. Members of the breed have also been crossed with Furioso-North Star, Thoroughbred and Shagya Arabian blood to breed warmbloods in Czechoslovakia.