Phenotypic characterization of the Saudi Arabian Hassawi cattle breed

Abstract

SummaryHassawi cattle breed is a mix of Bos indicus and Bos taurus. The cattle are raised in the Eastern province of the country by farming families in mixed farming system. The breed numbers are declining very fast, from 10 449 head in 1986 to an estimated maximum of 4 500 head at present.The decrease is mainly due to replacement by exotic breeds, the indiscriminate crossing with these exotics, particularly in view of the scarcity of the Hassawi bulls for mating. Animals are small in size, mature body weight 210-270 kg for bulls and 150-200 kg for cows, quite uniform in colour (light red) and body conformation have conspicuously reduced dewlap and umbilical folds and relatively large hump. Animals are heat tolerant, sustain high feed intake under ambient temperature, resistant to many diseases prevailing in the region and cows have good mothering ability. Productivity of the breed in terms of meat and milk is low when compared to that of exotics in high input production environments, but reproduction performance excels that of temperate breeds and zebu cattle.Efforts should be made to stop the decline in the breed numbers and to conserve the breed as an asset for production under harsh environment.