Tiroler Grauvieh

Tiroler Grauvieh

The Tiroler Grauvieh (Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758) is a cattle breed originating in historic Tyrol, or today’s Austrian Tyrol, Alto Adige and Trentino, with a dual aptitude.

Systematics –
From a systematic point of view, it belongs to the Eukaryota Domain, Animalia Kingdom, Subgenus Eumetazoa, Superphylum Deuterostomia, Phylum Chordata, Subphylum Vertebrata, Infraphylum Gnathostomata, Superclass Tetrapoda, Class Mammalia, Subclass Theria, Infraclasse Eutheria, Superorder, Laurasiatheria, Clade Ungulata, Order Artiodactyla, Suborder Ruminantia, Infraordine Sheep, Family Bovidae, Subfamily Bovinae and then to the Genus Bos, to the Taurus Species and to the Alpine Gray.

Geographical and area distribution –
The Tiroler Grauvieh is a breed bred mainly in the Austrian Tyrol, Alto Adige and Trentino and marginally in the mountainous and pedicollinari areas of the provinces of Belluno and Treviso. It is found but to a lesser extent also in Piedmont and Friuli-Venezia Giulia.

Origins and History –
This breed originated and then spread in the Tyrol (south-western Austria). The origin of this breed is in part in common with the other breeds of the Alpine Arch (including the Bruna Alpina breed). It was subsequently exported also to some European countries. The Tiroler Grauvieh breed association was founded in 1924 and is based in Innsbrück.
The Tiroler Grauvieh is one of the 11 breeds that join the European Federation of Alpine System breeds.

Morphology –
This breed is characterized by a coat of generally gray-silver color, with darker shades around the eyes, on the neck, on the shoulder and on the hips; the coat of bulls is darker in color.
The mucous membranes are black like the muzzle but with a white halo.
The horns are clear and black at the tip.
These are animals of size and stature are usually medium-small, of harmonic conformation, and with the females having a height at the withers of 126-136 cm and a live weight of 5.5 – 6.5 quintals.

Production aptitude –
Tiroler Grauvieh is a dual-purpose breed with prevalence for milk production but good performance for meat production.
Average annual milk production is about 5,000 kg, with a daily average of about 17 kg per day, with a fat content of 3.8%, protein of 3.4% per lactation.
As far as the yield in meat is concerned, daily weight gains of around 1-1.2 kg are obtained with a good yield at the slaughterhouse and valuable characteristics of the carcasses.
In general it is a rustic breed, long-lived and perfectly suited to high altitude grazing above all thanks to their agility and resistance of the claws. They also possess excellent fertility.

Guido Bissanti

Authorities-
– Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
– Roberto Parigi Bini, 1983. Cattle breeds, Pàtron editore, Bologna.
– Daniele Bigi, Alessio Zanon, 2010. Atlas of native breeds. Cattle, horses, sheep and goats, pigs bred in Italy, Edagricole-New Business Media, Bologna.