Carora cattle

Carora cattle is a cattle breed developed from cross-breeding the Braunvieh with the Criollo. The breed is used primarily for milk production.

Breeding

Their selective breeding began in 1935 in the herd of the breed's founder, Don Ramón Herrera in the northwestern Venezuelan state of Lara. He crossed the Braunvieh with the Criollo breed Amarillo de Quebrada Arriba, stabilizing the breed at 3/4 to 7/8 Braunvieh inheritance. The main breeding objective was to achieve satisfactory milk production in the hot, low precipitation environment. The climate of the area where the Carora was developed is semi-arid with an annual average rainfall of about 700mm and an average temperature of 28C.

Selection Criteria

Later it was observed that Carora cattle expressing the phenotype of the Amarillo de Quebrada Arriba criollo ancestor was better adapted and had better milk production. This characteristic was adapted as a selection criteria for the following generations. In 1989, Carora was declared a National Heritage by a resolution of the Ministry of Agriculture and Breeding of Venezuela, and was recognised as a pure-breed. All Carora cattle by that date were registered in the Association of Venezuelan Carora Cattle Breeders.

Phenotype

Based on records from 1975 to 1986 from approximately 5500 Carora cows in 28 herds, the average milk yield was 2433 kg. in 244 days with a standard deviation of 1062 kg. Average lactation length was 267 days with a standard deviation of 64. Age at first calving was 37.5 months with a standard deviation of 6.6. Dry period was 128 days with a standard deviation of 89. Calving interval was 405 days with a standard deviation of 60. Body weight was 426 kg, with a sta with standard deviation of 31.