The first Maremmana x Watussi calves are born!

Finally, two more first-generation calves of the Auerrindprojekt were born on May 26th. It is one bull calf and one cow calf, and both are of the combination Watussi x Maremmana. 
One of the calves with the mothers (© auerrind.wordpress.com)
The bull calf (© auerrind.wordpress.com)
It is great that both a bull calf and a cow calf were born. It opens the possibility to produce true F2 offspring of this generation, and we can see what this combination looks like in both sexes. The bull calf at least seems to develop a shallow zebuine hump, but that's not dramatic in my opinion. After all, the looks of an F1 are largely irrelevant because they are solely the product of heterozygosity and should give only little clue about later breeding success. I am still looking forward to see how the colour, size and body shape will turn out. The horns will most likely be pretty large, but also pretty upright. The F2 generation will be even more interesting, it will give us the opportunity to see what is the maximum of dark colour in this combination. 




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