Interesting facts about the dear (cattle) cattle.

It may well be known by now that cows are not purple outside of the advertising; In addition, numerous “real” secrets about the domestic animal world are waiting to be discovered on a farm holiday.

Around two million cattle live in Austria. In the 63,500 cattle farms, there are an average of 24 animals in the barn each - one can speak of a “small-scale cattle farming” with hardly any industrial features.

Depending on the purpose of their keeping, a distinction is made between dairy cattle and beef cattle. The majority of Austrian farmers rely on a combination of milk and meat production and therefore keep a good 80% of the well-known Fleckvieh, which is well suited for both areas. (see http://www.bmlfuw.gv.at/land/produktion-maerkte/tierische-produktion/rinder-schweine-usw/Rinder.html).

There is a large variety of cattle breeds that have names such as "Pinzgauer", "Red Friesian" or "Blue Belgian". These include not only "specialists" in terms of milk yield or growth, but also those who are simply particularly robust. The shaggy highland cattle also get along very well with the low temperatures and steep slopes of the high altitudes.

By the way, you shouldn't be fooled by her good-natured and cuddly appearance. Cattle are generally considered to be good-natured, but they are always ready to defend their herd - especially if there are vulnerable young animals among them and they are confronted with unknown people (possibly even accompanied by a dog). In order to avoid dangerous confrontations, one should also show respect for cattle and not disturb them in their “work” in the pasture - everyone involved benefits most from this!

(see Buchgraber, p. 28f.)