The Southern Yellow cattle are small but hardy animals. They have been used primarily for draft animals, but now are being selected for the production of quality meat. They are actually a breed of Zebu cattle which are derived from Bos taurus and B. indicus.
These animals are found in Southern China, Taiwan and Vietnam. Although they are derived from Bos taurus and B. indicus, but the Chinese do not distinguish between these two species.
They actually don’t distinguish for traditional reasons and just call the animals as “yellow cattle“. Read more information about this cattle breed below.
Southern Yellow Cattle Characteristics
The Southern Yellow cattle are smaller sized animals with small body. Their body color vary from usual yellow to white or to brownish orange. But most of the animals are almost always all one color.
They are one of three breeds of Chinese Yellow cattle. Other two Chinese Yellow cattle are Central Plains Yellow cattle and the Northern Yellow cattle breeds. The Northern Yellow breed is clearly taurine (Bos taurus taurus), the Southern Yellow breed is clearly Zebu (Bos taurus indicus).
But the Central Plains Yellow breed is intermediate. Which means at a glance that the Northern Yellow cattle have no humps, the Central Plains Yellow cattle have small humps, the Southern Yellow cattle have high, erect humps.
The Philippine Native cattle are usually very similar and are mainly derived from the Southern Yellow cattle brought from Fujian to the Philippines.
As a smaller sized animal, average body weight of the cows vary from 280 to 300 kg, and the bulls are heavier than the cows. Info from Wikipedia.
The breed has been used primarily for draft animal. But nowadays they are being selected and used for meat production.
The Southern Yellow cattle are smaller sized animals, but they are very hardy, strong and sturdy animals. They are adapted to almost any climates. And they have good heat tolerance and parasite resistance capabilities.
The animals are mainly used for draft animals and most recently used for meat. But they are being selected for milk production in Vietnam. Review full breed profile of this cattle breed in the following table.
|Breed Name||Southern Yellow|
|Breed Purpose||Meat, Milk, Draft|
|Special Notes||Hardy, strong, energetic, sturdy|
|Bulls||Slightly heavier than the cows in most cases|
|Cows||Usually vary from 280 to 300 kg|
|Climate Tolerance||All Climates|
|Coat Color||Vary from usual yellow to white or to a brownish orange|
|Country/Place of Origin||South Asia|