Heck Cattle Breed – Everything You Need to Know

The Heck cattle breed which was developed in an attempt to bring back the Auroch which is an extinct cattle breed. The Heck cattle are said to be quite aggressive bulls and have had a lot of bad press for their bad behavior.

HECK BREED OF CATTLE QUICK PROFILE OVERVIEW
The Heck cattle is a relatively new breed that was developed in an attempt to bring back the extinct Aurochs cattle.
Country of Origin:	Germany
Other Names:	None
Main Purpose:	Agriculture grazing projects and zoos
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Can be used for	Grazing projects, agriculture, and zoos
Ideal Climate:	Heat, Cold, Most Climates
Conservation Status:	Not listed by the *ALC Status/Rarity: Not at risk
Health Issues?	No known health issues
Good Starter Cattle?	Novice to intermediate Cattle farmer/keeper level
Cattle Associations:	Unclear – Please check with the American Dairy Association, National Association of Animal Breeders, Beef Cattle Breed Associations or The Beef Industry’s Information Center
Cattle Clubs:	Unclear – Please check with the American Dairy Association, National Association of Animal Breeders, Beef Cattle Breed Associations or The Beef Industry’s Information Center
Where to buy them?	>Unclear – Please check with the American Dairy Association, National Association of Animal Breeders, Beef Cattle Breed Associations or The Beef Industry’s Information Center
Child Friendly?	Livestock should not be left unattended around unsupervised children
General Information:	The Heck cattle were an attempt to bring back an extinct breed, but the Heck cattle are said to bear little resemblance to them. Heck cattle are known as being extremely aggressive and dangerous. There are reports of a farmer that had put some of his herd down as they were so dangerous.
Note: *ALC stands for American Livestock Conservancy

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

The Heck cattle has a small to medium size frame with the males presenting a rounder more muscular physique to the females blockier one. They have relatively long sturdy legs a medium sized long heart-shaped face with a slightly upturned nose. Both the bulls and cows have shaggy top coats and a fringe of hair on their foreheads which is usually a lighter color in contrast to their coats.

Size:

Small to medium

CATTLE ⇒	COW	BULL
Breed Color:	Are usually a dark reddish-brown color	Black with a light eel stripe across their back usually extending to their foreheads.
Breed Weight:	400 to 600 kgs	600 to 900 kgs
Breed Height:	130 cm	140 cm
Horns:	Long with sharp pointing tips that are wide apart and curl upwards	Bulls horns can be shaped the same as the females or mimic those of the Spanish Bull breeds horns. Thick long that grow out and then forward.
Temperament:	Aggressive	Aggressive
Matures at age:	6 to 8 months or 9 + months	6 to 8 months or 9 + months
Puberty Age:	6 to 15 months	9 to 1o months
Breeding Age:	13 to 15 months	1 year
Breeding Traits:	See Cow breeding & Milking Info	Cover 25 to 30 Cows in 1 season

COW BREEDING & MILKING INFORMATION
Most Cattle produce milk but not all of them are used in the dairy Cattle capacity for their milk. Cows only calve once a year and should have 12 to 14-month inter-calving cycle. They are good mothers and can be overly protective as they have a semi-feral nature and as such act it out. They have little to no birthing problems and have easy births producing mostly strong healthy calves. They are not used for their milk production and have a poor milk yield.
Breeding Period/cycle:	Usually lasts 6 to 24 hours Most ave. 12 to 16 hours Cows usually come on heat every 21 days.
Estrous cycle:	Ave. 17 days to 24 days Heifer – usually ave. 20 days Cows – usually ave. 21 days
Gestation Period:	Usually, around 279 to 287 days but most gestation is 283 days. Cows that are carrying bull calf’s their gestation period is usually a little longer than cows that are carrying heifer calves.
No. Calves/Litter:	1 calf at a time. Cows rarely have twins or triplets, but it can happen
Lactation Period:	Cows lactation period can last for up to about 10 months (305) days.
Milking From:	1 to 6 weeks after Calving
Drying off Period:	The cow should have a 12 to 14-month inter-calving cycle. Drying off period for around 60 days before she can calve again.
Milk Quality:	Good
Milk Ideal for:	Calves
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CATTLE MEAT PRODUCTION INFORMATION

They are not bred for the meat they are purely kept for agricultural projects and zoos.

Meat Production?

N/A

CATTLE ⇒	VEAL	BEEF
Ave. Maturity Age:	6 to 8 months	9 months up to 4 years

CATTLE SKIN PRODUCTION INFORMATION

Most meat Cattle will have a skin by-product, and these are usually used in some form or just as a hide. They are not bred nor are they used for their hides./td>

Skin Production?

N/A

Skin is used to Produce:

Calf/cow skin leather products such as shoes, car seats, fine leather coats, gloves, handbags, belts, furniture, rugs, etc.

CATTLE ⇒	CALF	ADULT
Age they Produce from:	6 to 8 months for Calf skin	1 to 2 years old for Normal leather

HISTORY

The Heck cattle were developed by the Heck brothers in the 1920s and 1930s. The breed was supposed to be a replica of the extinct Aurochs cattle breed. The brothers Heinz and Lutz Heck started their breeding project independently of the other.

The Heck brothers wanted to show the world what the Aurochs cattle looked like as it was constantly being confused or likened to that of the Wisent breed which was another large indigenous breed of Holocene Europe.

The brother also believed that by resurrecting the breed they would right the wrong mankind had done to the species by killing them off. The brothers were both directors of various Zoological Gardens in Germany. Heinz was at the Hellabrunn Zoological Gardens in Munich and Lutz at the Berlin Zoological Gardens.

It took the brothers eleven years to announce that they had successfully bred what is known as the Heck cattle. Each brother had used different cattle breeds for their selections.
Lutz had used Spanish fighting bulls whilst his brother Heinz did not. These cattle, however, the Berlin herd did not survive the second world war thus all breeds of Heck cattle found today go back to the cattle that were bred by Heinz Heck in Munich.

Heinz Heck used breeds such as the Corsican, Highland, Hungarian Grey, Murnau-Werdenfels, Angelin, Black-Pied lowland cattle, White Park and Brown Swiss cattle.
Heinz believed the first bull of his breed that resembled the Aurochs cattle was one name “Glachl” who was born in 1932.

There is speculation that the Heck cattle are nothing like the Aurochs cattle breed. The Heck brothers were highly criticized when the breed was announced and since then the breed continues to get a lot of bad press.

In 1996 a German conservation group started to breed Heck cattle with other southern-European primitive breeds in order to increase the Aurochs likeness of certain Heck cattle herds.
These crossbreeds are called Taurus cattle and are an attempt to bring the features that the Heck cattle are missing from that of the Aurochs into the cattle.