Ranching in Florida; The Florida Cow CavvySavvy.com - We Know Working Horses
You have heard of the Florida Man, but let me introduce you to the Florida Cow. The first cattle in Florida were essentially feral cattle.
Florida Cracker Cows
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southalberta
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Not Florida cracker cattle at all.
Those are abandoned cattle from BSE from 2003
Those are abandoned cattle from BSE from 2003
OP
OP
The cattle that are pictured are definitely not crackers. BSE? - i have no idea.
My experience related to this article is the ease with which Florida cracker cows can jump fences.
Southern Alberta? I think the farthest north i have been was a trip to Norway.
wobbie1775
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Bovine Spinal Encephalitis maybe... Mad cow disease.
alacowman1
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Let them jump the fence..they'd be doing you a favor
OP
OP
i eventually got rid of them. They ended up as dog food for a family member's Rottweiler business.
There are 2 breeds of "florida" cattle...Fla Craker and Fla Scrub. One is allowed to have Brahma DNA and one is not, but I forget which is which. The Spanish cattle brought to north and central America, eventually developed into 5 strains. Those on the western plains developed into Long Horns, the ones in Mexico into Corriente in the pine and palmetta area that covered south Ga, south ALa, and southern Mississippi developed into Piney Woods cattle. And the ones in Fla became the Scrubs or Crackers. Not a lot of difference, except in body and horn size. The LHs are the biggest and heaviest, with by far, the largest horns. Corriente are the smallest, with a lot smaller horn than LH. Pineywoods, Fla Scrub and Fla Cracker, are a little smaller than LHs, and their horns tend to grow straight up instead of out like LH and Corrs. This is due to the habitat in the Southern most areas of Dixie. One other difference: LHs are more apt to have spotted calves, even when bred to homo for black bulls. This is due to the shorthorn blood, introduced when people brought British bulls to the west to put on the LH cows. Only thing ever introduced to the Fla cows were Hereford, then Angus, and lastly, Brahma. And LHs can be hard to poll, because a lot of people have crossed them with Watusi.....and they have the dreaded African Horn Gene. If I have ever had a calf that was spotted, and /or had horns or scurs, it is because that cow wasn't pure Corr. She had LH blood in her.
Yeah, all of the Criolo cattle can jump a fence a lot better than a fat Angus could. But they can' come close to the jumping ability of a Brahma!!!
I have had many Fla Scrub/Crackers and Pineywoods, and never had one jump a fence yet.
Yeah, all of the Criolo cattle can jump a fence a lot better than a fat Angus could. But they can' come close to the jumping ability of a Brahma!!!
I have had many Fla Scrub/Crackers and Pineywoods, and never had one jump a fence yet.lynnmcmahan
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In south Mississippi they are called rake straw. They rake the pine straw with the upright horns to get to what grass that might be. Back in the late '50s there was no stock laws in MS and the cows were allowed to roam free and fend for themselves.There are 2 breeds of "florida" cattle...Fla Craker and Fla Scrub. One is allowed to have Brahma DNA and one is not, but I forget which is which. The Spanish cattle brought to north and central America, eventually developed into 5 strains. Those on the western plains developed into Long Horns, the ones in Mexico into Corriente in the pine and palmetta area that covered south Ga, south ALa, and southern Mississippi developed into Piney Woods cattle. And the ones in Fla became the Scrubs or Crackers. Not a lot of difference, except in body and horn size. The LHs are the biggest and heaviest, with by far, the largest horns. Corriente are the smallest, with a lot smaller horn than LH. Pineywoods, Fla Scrub and Fla Cracker, are a little smaller than LHs, and their horns tend to grow straight up instead of out like LH and Corrs. This is due to the habitat in the Southern most areas of Dixie. One other difference: LHs are more apt to have spotted calves, even when bred to homo for black bulls. This is due to the shorthorn blood, introduced when people brought British bulls to the west to put on the LH cows. Only thing ever introduced to the Fla cows were Hereford, then Angus, and lastly, Brahma. And LHs can be hard to poll, because a lot of people have crossed them with Watusi.....and they have the dreaded African Horn Gene. If I have ever had a calf that was spotted, and /or had horns or scurs, it is because that cow wasn't pure Corr. She had LH blood in her.
Yeah, all of the Criolo cattle can jump a fence a lot better than a fat Angus could. But they can' come close to the jumping ability of a Brahma!!!
