Chianina
A Chianina cow and calf in Tuscany
|
|
| Conservation status | not at risk |
|---|---|
| Other names |
|
| Country of origin | Italy |
| Distribution | world-wide |
| Standard | ANABIC |
| Use | dual-purpose, draught and beef |
| Traits | |
| Weight |
|
| Height |
|
| Skin color | black |
| Coat | white hair, black switch |
| Horn status | horned |
|
|
 Photograph of Donetto, the heaviest bull in the world, c. 1955
|
The Chianina (Italian pronunciation: [kiaˈniːna]) is an Italian breed of cattle, formerly principally a draught breed, now raised mainly for beef. It is the largest and one of the oldest cattle breeds in the world. The famous bistecca alla fiorentina is produced from its meat.
One of the oldest breeds of cattle, the Chianina originates in the area of the Valdichiana, from which it takes its name, and the middle Tiber valley. Chianina cattle have been raised in the Italian regions of Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio for at least 2200 years.Columella, writing about types of oxen in about 55 AD, says "Umbria vastos et albos ..." (VI.I.2), which in the first English translation is "Umbria has such as are huge, and of a white colour". Chianina oxen were the principal source of agricultural power in the area until displaced by mechanisation and the collapse of the mezzadria system following the Second World War; they were in use in agriculture until at least 1970 and are still used in processions such as the corteo storico of the Palio di Siena. From 1931 breeders began to favour selection of animals more suited to meat production, with shorter limbs, longer bodies and more heavily muscled rump and thighs; recently, selection is based also on factors such as growth rate, meat yield and, in cows, maternal ability. While one source reports a herdbook dating from 1856, others date the institution of the Libro Genealogico ("genealogical herdbook") to 1933, when a breed standard was established and commissions were set up by the then Ministero dell'Agricoltura e delle Foreste (ministry of agriculture and forestry) to identify, mark and register morphologically suitable animals; the standard of the Chianina breed was fixed by ministerial decree of 7 August 1935. A private register was previously kept by the largest cattle breeder of the Sienese Valdichiana, the Eredi del conte Bastogi of Abbadia di Montepulciano, and a group of breeders had in 1899 formed a society, the Società degli Agricoltori della Valdichiana (society of farmers of the Valdichiana), of which a principal aim was the establishment of a herdbook.
...
Wikipedia