The Red Sindhi is a dairy breed of zebuine cattle. It is believed to originate in western

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

and in the Las Bela area of

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

in undivided

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

,now in Pakistan. It is widely kept in Pakistan, and distributed to India and Bangladesh. Other names include Las Bela, Malir and Sindhi. Figures reported for milk production vary from in a lactation of 270 days, or some per day. They have been used for crossbreeding with temperate (European) origin dairy breeds in many countries to combine their tropical adaptations (heat tolerance, tick resistance, disease resistance, fertility at higher temperatures, etc.) with the higher milk production found in temperate regions. It has been crossed with Jerseys in many places, including India, the United States, Australia, Sri Lanka, Brasil,etc.

Description

The Red Sindhi range in colour from a deep reddish brown to a yellowish red, but most commonly a deep red. They are distinguished from the other dairy breed of

, the

Tharparkar Tharparkar (Dhatki language, Dhatki/; , ), also known as Thar, is a district in Sindh province in Pakistan, headquartered at Mithi. Before Indian independence it was known as the Thar and Parkar (1901⁠–⁠1947) or Eastern Sindh Frontier Distr ...

or White Sindhi, both by colour and form, the Red Sindhi is smaller, rounder, with a more typical dairy form, and with short, curved horns, while the Tharparkar are taller with a shape more typical of

Zebu The zebu (; ''Bos indicus''), also known as indicine cattle and humped cattle, is a species or subspecies of Bos taurus, domestic cattle originating in South Asia. Zebu, like many Sanga cattle breeds, differs from taurine cattle by a fatty hump ...

draft breeds, and with longer, lyre shaped horns. The bulls are usually of a darker colour than the cows.

Breeding

It has been crossed with include

Holstein-Friesian The Holstein Friesian is an international breed or group of breeds of dairy cattle. It originated in Frisia, stretching from the Dutch province of North Holland to the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It is the dominant breed in industrial ...

Brown Swiss The Brown Swiss or American Brown Swiss is an American breed of dairy cattle. It derives from the traditional triple-purpose Braunvieh ("Swiss Brown") of the Alpine region of Europe, but has diverged substantially from it. It was selectively br ...

and Danish Red. It has also been used to improve beef and dual purpose cattle in many tropical countries, as it is sufficiently meaty to produce good beef calves in such crosses and the high milk production helps give a fast-growing calf which is ready for market at one year. It is somewhat smaller than the very similar

Sahiwal Sahiwal ( Punjabi / ; ; ), formerly known as Montgomery, is a city in central Punjab, Pakistan. It is the administrative capital of both Sahiwal District and Sahiwal Division. It is the 19th largest city of Pakistan by population accordin ...

and produces a little less milk per animal as a result. This has caused it to lose favour with some commercial dairies in India and Pakistan, which have been phasing out their Red Sindhi herds by breeding to Sahiwal bulls for a few generations. The resulting cows, which are three-quarters Sahiwal and one-quarter Red Sindhi, can not be distinguished from pure

Sahiwal cattle The Sahiwal is a list of cattle breeds, breed of zebuine cattle indigenous to the Indian Subcontinent. It is named after Sahiwal District of the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of present-day Pakistan, and is distributed mainly in that province ...

. Red Sindhi cattle are also used for milk production in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, but this race of zebu is not popular as others.

Export to Brazil

Some Red Sindhi cows were exported to the Brazil in the middle of 20th century.

References

Cattle breeds originating in Pakistan Animal breeds originating in Sindh Cattle breeds originating in India Dairy cattle breeds {{bots, deny=Citation bot

Description

Breeding

Export to Brazil

See also

References