One of my hobbies is I farm. Used to do it with my dad but since he passed on I do it alone. I do cattle rearing and dairy and grow a lot of traditional small grains and wild rice. The cows are only African breeds Ankole (considered sacred), mashona, nguni and tuli because they are drought resistant.
The Ankole are probably what are the image of African cows. They are drought resistant and have lean meat.
Interesting story about Ankole horns. It is alleged that they inspired a spear fighting formation used by the Zulu (attributed to Shaka) called cowhorn formation which was basically flanking the enemy on both sides like the horns. It was combined with the use of a shorter spear (assegai). They were so successful with it that it caused an upheaval of the states in South Africa in the early 19th century and one if the States was destroyed.
A former coworker’s spouse has a large animal degree, so they started a modest sized cattle farm. When my BIL started a hobby farm a while back, BIL bought some Scottish Highlands cattle from the coworker. They are leaner cattle than most US varieties, and lower maintenance as well. BIL sold the hobby farm a few years ago however. That is my sum total experience with cattle.
I do have lots of chickens. I keep a lot of indigenous breeds. They look like the chickens that are used in cock fights. If I was married they would not be mine and my dad never bought a single one because he knew mom would then own them all. They are free range. They are normally the relish I eat when there.
There is a local meal that is wild rice with peanut butter and traditional chicken that is considered a delicacy so the chickens are basically a cash cow.
I tried geese and guinea fowls but both were too aggressive. I wanted to try turkeys but I am still to do that.
I also have a lot of grey hounds. I just breed them for selling. We used to have German shepherds (alsations) and dobermans. I did rhodesian rotweillers once. They were so aggressive I was the only one that could control them so I had to sell them.
Turkeys are another matter entirely. They’re a lot larger than you expect. Ours used to walk over top of the fence and terrorize our dog. People would come in our driveway and wouldn’t get out of the car because they were head height with the turkey’s staring in the car window. They razed my spouses flowers and plants.
When I butchered them, it was basically a wrestling match. 30-40lb birds with very thick necks. Not a bit like chickens. It was a mess.
My brother in law and his wife asked her parents to raise a turkey for them one year. They had a hobby farm with chickens at the time. They agreed, but after their experience they said never again. I don’t remember all the details, but the turkey wreaked havoc.
I will say it tasted totally different than the farm raised turkey here. It had a thicker layer of fat, and a bit of a game bird taste too it. It was so huge BIL had to hack off a leg to fit in the roasting pan/oven.
I grew up on a small farm of 16 acres and my dad typically had 3-5 cows at any given time. He would basically raise them from calves and sell them at auction when they matured. The neighbor’s bull would jump the fence and help “provide” the next generation, lol.
We typically named all of them, most were pretty friendly. It’s wild how different their personalities were though, there was one that would charge at me whenever she saw me, even from a hundred yards away. And then another was extremely docile, to the point it would let us sit on her back while she was laying around chewing cud.
I have a core memory of being about 6-7 years old and one of them was in labor, but the calf was breach. My dad had to get up in there an assist in the birth. When the calf came out the momma exclaimed very loudly and my dad and I were overcome with tears. Incredible, beautiful moment that will always stick with me.