The Curious Compendium 2023-2024: Shih-tzu, maltese, pekingese!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Fleckvieh cattle!


This is a dual purpose breed as well, used for both dairy and beef (though in early years it was also a draft animal, this has largely dropped off today). The breed originates from central Europe (mostly Austria and Bavaria) during the 19th century. It was developed by crossbreeding local animals with imported Simmental cattle from Switzerland. Today there are about 41 million animals worldwide. Characteristically, this breed is large boned, fast growing, and still has tough claws and tendons that explain its usefulness as a draft animal. Modern cattle are often a red brown with white markings, but can vary in color, while their ancestors were much more primitive looking (dark red and brown, similar to auroch).

[Gwangi]

These are all by Schleich, aren't they? I have the bull.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Yes, all of them are Schleich.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Merino, Scottish black-faced, and Shropshire sheep!

Shropshire were developed in the 1840s by local shire farmers crossing native black faces sheep to leicester and southdown breed stock. This breed has a dark face and legs, cherry red skin, and pale wool, in addition to being polled (hornless). This is a dual purpose breed; they grow quickly and produce elastic and dense wool. A ram can give a 10-14 lbs fleece while a ewe is closer to 10-11lbs. One intriguing thing I learned is that this is the only (to my reading anyhow) breed that does not eat trees. This has made them popular on properties that grow Christmas trees or orchards of fruit as they don't harm those agriproducts but maintain grasses and fertilize young saplings.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Simmental!

This is another famous breed known for its existence since the middle ages and its value as a breed used to develop new breeds and crosses around the world. Originally a tri purpose animal, it is now largely used for either dairy or beef. The traditional animals are only red or yellow with white markings, but there are newer strains of them that can be solid black or red (though not considered purebred in all countries). The animals are now widespread and popular on each continent! The most intriguing crosses I came by however were from Russia! There are 6 unique strains there:
Steppe simmental (russian cattle X simmental)
Ukrainian simmental (grey steppe cattle X simmental)
Volga simmental (central russian kalmyk/kazakh cattle X simmental)
Ural simmental (siberian/kazakh cattle X simmental)
Siberian simmental (siberian/buryat cattle X simmental)
Far Eastern simmental (transbikail/yakutian cattle X simmental)

[bmathison1972]

I have the 2016 Schleich Simmental cow (fourth from the left, back in your pic). It's funny, I mainly got it because I was ordering something from Schleich's US site and I needed a minimum of $10, so I picked this cow.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Oh nice Blaine! I personally like the family set from just before, but its a great breed to have in a collection. I didn't realize how influential they were on other breeds!

Chickens! (no particular breed)

Chickens are smarter than most people think; they can remember 100 faces (chicken or human!). A single chicken can have up to 300+ eggs a year and hens will rotate their eggs throughout the day (the presumption is so that the embryo doesn't attach to the egg wall). The record number of eggs laid in a day is 7 and the record in a year 371! There are more chickens on earth than humans- 25 BILLION. They were first domesticated in China circa 6,000 B.C. The most yolks in one egg is an astounding 9 and the biggest egg recorded was 12 oz and had 2 yolks. There are so many more facts to share but I have to digress!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Mixed cattle! Salers, Ayrshire, Montbeliarde, Galloway, and Limousin!


Salers cattle hail from Auvergne France. They are an old breed, depicted in cave paintings from 16,500 years ago! This distinctive red breed has a thick coat of hair and dark pigmentation compared to many breeds that helps with sunburns and chapping. They are easy calvers as they have a large pelvic area and a shorter than usual gestation period. One of their widely lauded characteristics is their efficient use of forage rather than fodder, and are another triple use breed (though they better known for dairy nowadays rather than beef or draught).

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Another set of mixed cattle! Black baldy, Maine Anjou,  Allgau, and Blonde d'Aquitaine.

Black baldy is not considered its own breed just yet, but it is often culturally treated as one. This mixture of cattle is produced (typically) by breeding a Hereford bull to Angus cows, or (less often) an Angus bull to hereford cows. The resulting calves will be black bodied with white faces and variable markings. These animals are currently highly valued in the beef industry for their "heterosis" or "hybrid vigor"; showing several favorable traits from both parents including the poll gene (hornless), more robust immune systems and over all health, and fast growth rates compared to "straightbred" or pure line calves. This mixture is highly popular in Australia and New Zealand as well as North America. This breed differs from the black hereford but often gets mistaken for it; this mixed breed is from crossing Hereford bulls with Friesian cows, and this currently the most common mix breed cow in Britain. The baldy is a type of cow I also grew up with and have fond memories of. Their uniquely colored calves are some of the most darling ones I have seen!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Alpaca!

They can live to be about 20 years old, oldest known was 27! After about 8 years though their fleece quality begins to decrease. Their fiber is a popular choice; because it lacks the oil lanolin it is hypoallergenic. It is also nonflammable and water resistant! They were domesticates about 6,000 years ago. Their babies, a cria, are in gestation for 330 days! There are two types of alpaca; the huacaya (crimped, dense fiber) and suri (longer and more valuable wool). They can also hybridize with llamas- creating a llalpaca/huarizo from a male llama and female alpaca pairing.

[BlueKrono]

I see Toymany boosting that collection! I got that set too.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Yup! In this case, they make up a third of the herd.

Just a heads up for this week, starting 7/24-7/29 posts will be sparse if not nonexistent here; I have a family event to attend and its going to be rather busy and hectic. I am going to *try* to post at least a few times but... I can't make promises on this. But after its all over we will wrap up livestock and move on to the category!

Here we have another favorite bovid of mine; Rodeo bucking bulls!


These are animals similar to the Spanish fighting bulls in that they are bred foe performance, not for a product or look. They often have Brahma in their pedigree, but they really can be any kind of admixture from there. Just like with show dogs or equine athletes (race horses, jumpers, dressage, etc.) they have a long pedigree for each animal thay can be traced back for decades. Your average bull weighs in at 1,200 lbs to 2,000 lbs. But there have been famous bulls with slighter builds (i.e. Blueberry Wine) or even larger builds (Bodacious). It may come as a surprise however that while some of these fierce competitors are truly ornery, most of them are actually just entertainers at heart. Many of the most famous bulls in the American circuit were known to be gladiators in the ring but turn into big puppy dogs at home or once they got down the chute back to their holding pen at events. If nothing else, they are amazing athletes performing gravity defying stunts at their size, and each and every single bull has a different tactic to unseat his rider. Upon retirement, these bulls are kept in great health and shape until their natural passing.

As a small tribute to some of the most famous, I will list a few of my favorites here: Little Yellow Jacket, Bones, Mudslinger, Dillinger, Hotel California, Lucky Strike, Voodoo, Nightlife, Ugly, Neon Nights, and I could go on...

Sadly, Bushwacker, a highly successful athlete himself, passed away earlier this month at the age of 18.

[bmathison1972]

Rodeo bulls leading up to Pioneer Day? 

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Both that and to kick off rodeo season!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Generic sheep!


Sheep can remember up to 50 faces (human and animal) for 2 years! Their rectangular pupila help them detect movement in a wider range of vision. They are often the livestock animal of choice for research studies (digestion of ruminants, farming effects on landscape, etc.). As they grow up, they develop 2 teeth at a time until they have 32 total, this takes about 4 years to do. Lastly, a one year old sheep is called a "hogget".

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Finally back!

The last of the cattle, just the ones who don't fit into one distinct breed.

Cattle are very social animals and will make close bonds with 20-30 other individuals in their herd. Cattle cannot see the color red, it is supposed to appear as yellow or gray to them (sorry matadors). Cattle chew their feed up to 40,000 times a day! Their 4 chambered stomach (the rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum), is an amazing structure. The reticulum is what produces the cud (a soft taffy-like material they regurgitate to rechew), the rumen is the fermenting tank that uses bacteria to break down their food, the omasum is primarily used to absorb water from the food, the abomasum (the "true" stomach) is the final and most vital part of digestion where enzymes are produced to create the final digestible product for the animal.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Last of the pigs! Various breeds:

Mangalitza (one of many spellings) pigs hail from Hungary. Developed from crossing wild boar with domestic Romanian Salonta, Hungarian Bakony, and and the Serbian Sumadija pigs. They are most well known for their thick, woolly coat of hair; earning them the name "sheep-pigs". There has only ever been one other breed so hairy; the now extinct Lincolnshire curly coat pig. In the modernd day, only 3 of the 6 varieties still exist; the red, blonde, and "swallow bellied"; while the three extinct went... well... extinct; black, "wolf", and "baris". They have much smaller litters than other breeds, usually only 4-8 piglets. This old breed has dropped out of popularity as an agriculture animal, farmers now prefer much meatier modern breeds. But in recent years, they make be making a comeback due to "healthier" manosaturated fats in the meat (including more minerals/vitamin content and a purer fatty content).

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Llamas! (penultimate post for livestock):

Llamas come in 52 natural colors, including black, white, gray, beige, red, and brown. They were domesticated about 4,000 years ago, but their wool has been used for about 6,000 years! Just like alpacas, it is a preferred clothing fiber since it is lanolin free. Llamas in captivity often deposit manure (some call it "llama beans") in a communal toilet area and is odor free; this not only helps with pests like flies, but also reduces the risk of parasite transference. I was unable to find if wild llamas do any similar behavior in the wild. Lastly, they can carry up to 25-30% of their body weight if they are used as a pack animal.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

And the final livestock group; assorted chicken and turkey breeds!

Domestic turkeys can get to be 3 times the size of wild specimens (a combination of breeding for larger muscle groups and feed). It takes approx. 84 lbs of feed (usually corn and soybean meal) to raise a 30 lbs tom. Before modern transportation methods, farmers would put leather "shoes" on their feathered livestock before walking them to the market to be sold. Turkeys were first domesticated by native Americans in the region of what is now Mexico and southeastern states 2,000 years ago! This is a farm animal that has been domesticated from wild stock on 2 occassions. Depending on who you ask, there are around a dozen modern breeds of turkeys around the world. While they all are very clearly turkeys (unlike other modified poultry breeds that have been heavily altered- looking at you pigeons...) There are some very striking breeds (like the ones I repainted above).

[BlueKrono]

There's such a stupendous variety of chickens that have never been made in toy form, especially compared to, say, horses.