Nelore Cattle

Origin 

 Nelore beef  cattle originated from angolo  cattle originally brought to Brazil  from India. They are named after the district of Nelore in andre perdish state in India . The Nelore has a distinct large hump over the top of the shoulder and neck. They have long legs which help them to walk in water and

 

 when grazing. The Nelore can adapt to all except very cold climates. They are very resistant to high temperatures and have natural resistance to various parasites and diseases. Brazil is the largest breeder of Nelore. 

There has never existed in India a breed called Nelore. This name corresponds to a district of the old Presidency of Madrás, now belonging to the new State of Andra, by the Bengal Sea. It was in Brazil that some authors started to use the name Nellore as a synonym to ongola , the Indian breed that contributed most to the creation of the Nelore. The history of the ongola dates back 2,000 years before Christian times. It was the Aryan people that brought the ancestors of the Nelore to India, where they were submitted to extreme weather conditions. The arid lands of Belushistan, the cold winters of Punjab, the alluvial lands of Ganges and the torrid lands by the Bengal sea provided the Ongola breed with the adaptation genes that are now favorably expressed in the modern Nelore.

Brazil has become the largest breeder of Nelore, and from there the breed was exported to Argentina, Paraguay, Venezuela, Central America, Mexico, United States and many other countries. In all those places, the contribution of the Nelore was remarkable, whether through purebred selection within the breed or through crosses with local breeds, many times of European origin.

The Nelore was first acknowledged in Brazil in 1868, when a ship on its way to England carrying two ongola stopped in Salvador, Bahia, and the animals were there sold. Ten years later, a breeder from Rio de Janeiro, named Manoel Ubelhart Lemgruber, bought another couple from the Hamburg Zoo in Germany. Then the Nelore breed expanded gradually, first in Rio de Janeiro and Bahia, then in Minas Gerais, having reached Uberaba in 1875.

The creation of the Nelore Herd Book and the definition of the breed standards in Uberaba, 1938, was of great relevance in the formation of the Nelore. In 1960, 20 animals were imported, and in 1962, the last and most relevant purchase of live animals from India authorized by the Brazilian Government, 84 ongola were imported. These became founders of important breeding lines like Godahvari, Karvadi and Taj Mahal, and were decisive to the great expansion of the Brazilian herd in the last 30 years, going from 56 million in 1965 to 160 million in 1995, 100 million of which are Nelore.

Distinguishing Characteristics

It is said that there is no ideal breed, and that every breed has strong points and none is better for all important economic traits, the Nelore is certainly the best alternative for economic beef production in the tropics, which are responsible for 65% of the world’s bovine population.

1. Hardiness. The main advantage that the Nelore has over other breeds of beef cattle is its hardiness. Calves are alert, with an active behavior, standing up and suckling soon after they are born, without any need for constant human intervention. The Nelore has notable physical strength and is unexcelled in its ability to thrive under harsh climatic, nutritional and sanitary conditions, frequent in the tropics. Because of their hardiness and rustling ability, Nelores surpass all other breeds under conditions of poor range and drought.




2. Heat and Insect Resistance. The Nelore has a loose skin with sweat glands that are twice as big and 30% more numerous than those of the European breeds. The Nelore’s black skin, covered by a white or light gray coat helps filtering and reflecting harmful sun rays. Its low level of metabolism also contributes to heat resistance, as the Nelore feeds less but often, generating less internal heat. Nelores possess natural resistance to various insects, as its skin has a dense texture, making it difficult for blood sucking insects to penetrate. Nelores also have a well developed subcutaneous muscle layer which enables them to remove insects simply by shaking their coat.


3. Metabolic Efficiency. The Nelore can efficiently convert poor quality forages into beef, and withstand long periods without water. Due to their habit of feeding lightly but frequently, Nelore and Nelore hybrid cattle are highly resistant to bloating, and death losses rarely occur from this cause. Excellent feed conversion ratio and good disposition allow the Nelore to be early finished in feedlots, with highly positive results.


4. Meat Quality. While the beef of some breeds have excessive marbling, or intra-muscular fat, beef from Nelore cattle have enough fat to be highly palatable. The Nelore matches the recent shift in the beef industry towards a low calorie, leaner meat diet, without compromising taste. This was demonstrated at the 1991 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, when a purebred Nelore steer won the “Best Overall in Taste” contest, competing against dozens of hybrid and European steers.


5. Reproductive Efficiency. Nelores have long, deep bodies with clear underlines, keeping vulnerable parts out of the way of infection. Cows have small udders and short teats, while bulls' sheaths are also short. These characteristics contribute to the breed’s reproductive efficiency. Nelore dams have a long and prolific reproductive life, pronounced mothering ability, and plenty of milk for their calves. The Nelore cows calve very easily due to their greater frame, wide pelvic opening and larger birth canal, which reduces the incidence of distocia.


6. Maternal Instinct and Disposition. Nelore dams have highly developed maternal instinct throughout the whole milking period, which is of great importance for extensive breeding systems. They lick their newborn, put them to suckle and look for a safe place to hide them from predators. The active and vivid disposition of the Nelore is largely responsible for their unusual thriftiness, hardiness and adaptability to a wide range of feed and climate. Nelores like affection and quickly respond to kind handling methods, becoming extremely docile.
7. Crossbreeding 

There is a universal trend toward meat production through crossbreeding. Heterosis, or hybrid vigor, is the biological phenomenon in which the performance of the offspring is greater than the average of the parents. The more distantly related the parents are, the greater is the hybrid vigor response in their progeny. Classic scientists like Linneo and Darwin supported the idea of Bos Indicus (Nelore) and Bos Taurus (European) to be considered separate species due to the differences they presented from the adaptation to environments diametrically opposites in latitude. In beef cattle, maximum hybrid vigor results from crossbreeding these two historically unrelated species.

Hybrid vigor in beef cattle is expressed in heavier weaning weights, increased milk production, greater calf vitality, higher fertility and increased resistance to disease. In addition to increased weight for age and greater carcass efficiency, the hybrid animal inherits to a great extent many economic characteristics of its Nelore parent, such as drought resistance, heat tolerance, disease resistance and increased longevity.

Ina recent research done by the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Nebraska, the Nelore F₁s showed the largest percentage of unassisted calving, the highest weaning percentage, and their offspring calves were 2nd in 200-day weaning weight of the 11 breeds evaluated. These results combined placed the Nelore F₁s as the most productive dams, with an impressive 115.0 ratio.