Spanish Fighting Bull – Everything You Need to Know

The Spanish Fighting cattle is quite a breath-taking sight to behold when you see them grazing in the lush pastures, they are kept in. They are a medium to somewhat large sized cattle the female having a blockier frame than the more rounded muscular one of the males. Their rich inky black coast shines and glistens in the sunlight as they idly graze.

SPANISH FIGHTING CATTLE BREED OF CATTLE QUICK PROFILE OVERVIEW
The Spanish Fighting cattle are usually bred as free-range cattle roaming the hills of various estates in Spain, Portugal and Latin America where bull fighting is organized.
Country of Origin:	Spain
Other Names:	Fighting Bull, Toro Bravo, Toro Lidiado, Ganado bravo, Touro de lide
Main Purpose:	Bull fighting/sport
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Can be used for	Breed, Meat, Sports
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 Spanish Fighting bull does not mature as fast as normal beef breeds do as it is not bred for its beef but rather for its strength and aggression. They have a well-muscled look with prominent morillo which looks like a large lump between the neck and shoulder blades. This is actually a complex of muscles which gives the bull its strength of horns and its famed recognizable fighting bull profile. Cattle are actually color blind so it is just a myth that bulls go nuts at the color red but rather it is a response to the movements of the muleta that make the bull attack. The red is more traditional it symbolizes dissimulate blood stains as well as a good contrast to the light-dark of the arena floor. Male and female calves spend their first year of life with their mother before they are weaned, branded and then put into single sex groups. Once they reach two years which is usually their age of maturity they are sent for testing or tienta. Testing establishes if the males will be slaughtered, sent to the bull fighting arena or kept for breeding purposes. Testing a bull for the fighting arena is tested with the bull’s aggression towards a horse as the bull is forbidden to charge against a man on the ground before its first arena appearance. The Bull learns to use its horns by fighting with other bulls in the pastures which often occurs in a tragic end for one of the bulls and a great loss to the breeders. The females of the breed are also put to a thorough testing routine. Or rather they are tested even more thoroughly than the male. As it is said that a bull’s courage is inherited from that of his mother! Breeding cows will be kept up until they can no longer bare calves. Fighting bulls will be returned to pastures with other bulls and at three years of age are known as novillos and no longer calves. These are used for training bull fighters whilst the best bulls are kept for corridas de toros with full matadors. There is a Spanish law that states these bulls must be four years of age and weight at least 460 kgs before they are allowed to enter the first-rank bullring. 435 kg bulls are for a second-rank ring and 410 kgs for a third-rank ring. All bulls entering the bull ring must have full functional horns that have by no means been tampered with.
Note: *ALC stands for American Livestock Conservancy

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

It is rather an aggressive cattle breed which is true in both the male and female of the breed. They are a medium sized breed with a well-muscled blocky frame. The females have little to no hump at all on their necks whilst the hump is not very large but still well defined on the neck of the male. The male also has a more rounded well-muscled physique with a thicker neck than the female.

Size:

Medium

CATTLE ⇒	COW	BULL
Breed Color:	Black some do have white markings	Black some do have white markings
Breed Weight:	450 to 500 kgs	500 to 700 kgs
Breed Height:	Unclear	Unclear
Horns:	Medium length, thick they grow outwards from the head and then generally curve forward or can be more of a lyre-shape growing upwards on their heads	Medium length, thick they grow outwards from the head and then generally curve forward or can be more of a lyre-shape growing upwards on their heads. The male’s horns are little longer than those of the females.
Temperament:	Aggressive, active and alert	Aggressive, active and alert
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 not a dairy cattle breed and as such, they have small milk yields that are usually just enough to wean her young on. They have good birthing rates with an easy birthing and little no birthing problems.
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

The Spanish Fighting bull has said to have a very good quality of meat due to the way it is kept. Most fighting bulls live a life in the lap of luxury in lush countryside. This is to promote their health and keep them fit for the fighting ring. They are a bit slower to mature than most beef production animals, but they do produce a lean carcass with a good dress out percentages with little wastage.

Meat Production?

Yes, Quality: V Good

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 specifically bred for their skin, but it is usually a by-product of both the bull fighting and meat production of the animal

Skin Production?

No, Quality: Good

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

Some Fighting bulls can be traced back to wild bulls from the Iberian Peninsula. Some of these Iberian cattle were known to be used in arena games in the Roman Empire.
Although there are a lot of disputes over the breeds history genetic studies have shown that the breeding stock has an unusually old genetic pool.

The Spanish Fighting bull’s aggression has been maintained in the breed by very selective breeding programs. During the 19th century, bull fighting became quite a popular sport in Spain, Portugal, and parts of France and Latin America.

In May of 2010, the first clone of the breed was made by Spanish scientists. The calf was named Got which means glass in Valencian. Got was cloned from a bull called Vasito and was implanted into a Holstein host cow mother.