Tudanca cattle are primitive breed of cattle which were previously used in inner Cantabria as work animals in the field. It is actually from Cantabria, Spain.
The breed takes it’s name from the village of Tudanca in the Cantabrian Nansa valley. The Tudanca cattle breed resembles the wild ancestor of cattle, the extinct aurochs in several respects.
After the mechanization of agriculture, the need of working animals reduced. And the Tudanca cattle breed was listed as protected domestic animal. At that time most of the primitive cattle breeds were facing extinction because of their low economical production rate.
And the Tudanca cattle breed was also among them. But the efforts of many breeders and lately recognized quality of it’s superb meat have stopped declining and livestock grows back.
Now the breed is not among the list of the endangered cattle breeds. And an equation from 2008 counted 12991 animals. Read more about the Tudanca cattle below.
Tudanca Cattle Characteristics
The Tudanca cattle are medium sized animals with bulls reaching about 150 cm shoulder height and the cows about 135 cm. Their color vary from greyish to black. And on average, the bulls are darker than the cows.
The bulls have a light eel stripe on their back, like the aurochs (additionally they often have a light saddle). The cows are more gracile and smaller than the bulls. Both bulls and cows usually have long horns.
Typically for Tudanca is the swung back line, which is strongly pronounced in bulls. The bulls often carry long curly hair on their front head. Those long curly hair is a feature also described for the aurochs.
The Tudanca bulls on average weight about 420 kg, and average body weight of the cows is about 320 kg. Photo and info from Wikipedia.
Uses
These animals were used as work animals in the field in ancient times. But now they are used as a meat and dairy cattle breed.
Special Notes
The Tudanca cattle are described as “agile, strong, frugal and hardy” by José María de Cossío. They are well adapted to the climate of Cantabrian upland. And also well suited to the mountainous areas.
Actually the herds of this breed are moved up to the high pasture for grazing on June where they are left until October.
However, these animals are very important cattle breed of Spain. Review it’s full breed profile below.
| Breed Name | Tudanca |
| Other Name | None |
| Breed Purpose | Milk, Meat |
| Special Notes | Active, Hardy, Strong |
| Breed Size | Medium |
| Bulls | About 420 kg |
| Cows | About 320 kg |
| Climate Tolerance | All Climates |
| Coat Color | Greyish to black |
| Horned | Yes |
| Milk Yield | Medium |
| Rarity | Common |
| Country/Place of Origin | Spain |
