Breed Physique
The Boran male and female share breed points, as described in ‘Boran Bull – Characteristics’. The sexes, however, show marked dimorphism – the female being notably small, whilst the male grows to a large size. The cow has a well-carried udder with strong attachments and neat, small teats, in contrast to some Asian Zebu breeds.
The well-developed beef conformation shows up in carcase appraisals. The depth of eye muscle, marbling, even fat cover and ratio of hind to forequarter make the Boran difficult to beat, hence the preference of Kenya butchers for young, well-finished Boran steers.
“While the Boran breeders have greatly improved the beef conformation of their animals, they never lost sight of the important qualities of the indigenous Boran.”
Breed Survival
Boran cattle have developed adaptive traits of crucial importance for their survival. Some of these characters are: – “Ability to withstand periodic shortage of water and feed, ability to walk long distances in search of water and feed and ability to digest low quality feeds.” (Haile-Mariam, et al. “Boran – Indigenous Cattle With Potential” 1994).
Ability to walk and survive starts with sound feet and leg conformation. Dark pigmentation and black points protect against sunburn. These are important survival characteristics, which inspectors will not compromise when registering for the Kenya Stud Book.
The herd instinct of the Boran makes it easy to manage and survive in bush country. They will always stay together and can ‘graze on the trot’. The cow’s strong protective instinct deters predators.
Walking Ability
In Kenya’s vast northern districts, long distances separate grass from water, and markets are far away. The Boran evolved under these stressful conditions and selection pressure has given the breed its remarkable walking ability, so greatly admired today.
Newborn calves keep up with their mothers and are soon able to walk long distances.
Drought Resistance
“Animals with Boran genes have a relatively low maintenance requirement. This was substantiated in a recent study at the US Meat Animal Research Centre in Nebraska”. (Haile-Mariam, Sprinkle et al. 1998).
“…young Boran animals can make dramatic recoveries after drought years when pasture conditions improve” (Coppock, 1994.)
Being adapted to hot dry conditions, the Boran, with its lower maintenance requirement has a better chance of surviving droughts than Bos taurus breeds. The Boran cow will cease lactating in adverse conditions, letting her live to conceive again when conditions improve.
Mothering Ability
The Boran cow is an excellent mother. Not only will she feed her calf so well that high weaning weights are attainable, but she guards against predators, and will never allow her calf to get lost in the bush.
“For it is the mothering ability which determines the pre-weaning growth rate of the calf and the survival rate from birth to weaning.” (FAO Animal Production and Health Paper 34, 1982).
When considering crossing a Bos taurus breed with zebu for the sub tropics, the Boran must surely rank high as the choice of cow. Her well known mothering ability coupled with her prolific traits and small, efficient size makes her the preferred cow for commercial crossbreeding.
Ease of Calving
The Boran cow is renown among breeders for its ease of calving. As illustrated in this photograh of a Boran cow with her crossbred Charolais/Aberdeen Angus weaner calf, the Boran breed can be reliably crossed with the largest of exotic breeds. This becomes especially useful in ranching conditions where calving supervision is difficult.