Origin of the Pinzgauer Breed
The Practical Breed 

About 500 AD., Alpine herdsmen, who ran their cattle on small, widely scattered, rocky pastures, had begun to develop a breed of red and white cattle from the native red Bavarian cattle. These early cattlemen selected animals that could withstand the harsh conditions and still produce meat and milk. Farmers in the highly productive valleys and other lush areas of Bavaria, developed larger, brown and spotted (flecked) breeds of cattle from the same original, native seedstock. The extreme climatic conditions and mountainous grazing of the region have resulted in a breed well known for its exceptional walking ability. Later in history, Pinzgauer attained their present form and color. The designation "Pinzgauer" drives from the "Pinzgau" district in the province of Salzburg, Austria, and appears for the first time in documents of the 1600's. Herd books dated in the 1700's show that selective breeding had been going on for some time, and there are records of exportations of "Pinzgauer Cattle" to Rumania, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia in the 1820's. In 1871 Pinzgauer cattle were sent to the Paris World Exhibition. In the early 1900's, a number of breeding cattle were exported to South Africa, which has the second largest herd of fullblood animals in the world today.

By the end of the 18^th century selective breeding had resulted in fairly fixed economic breed characteristics, with the result that Pinzgauer cattle were exported from Austria to neighbouring Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany and Yugoslavia. The Pinzgauer breed was later exported world-wide and the first animals arrived in the former South-West Africa in 1902. The Fist World War put an end to further importations. During the two world wars it was very difficult to import breeding stock from Austria

Characteristics

Horned or Polled, Pinzgauers have pigmented skin under a chestnut red coat and white markings on the back, tail and barrel. They adapt readily and easily to a variety of climates. Eye problems are rare. Smooth hair and firm, flexible skin prevents tick and other insect infestations.
 

Mature bulls average 2000 pounds and up, while mature females level out at approximately 1,000 to 1,600 pounds. More moderately sized in relation to the "big is better" theory, Pinzgauer progeny still have above average weaning weights, gainability and feed conversion, but they maintain the easy calving ability that cattlemen prefer. Udders are well-formed and hold up well during lactation, and it is not uncommon for a Pinzgauer female to wean a 600+ pound calf. The ability to rebreed while nursing is another important economic trait Pinzgauers exhibit. It is very important for brood cows to produce and wean a heavy calf and do it year after year.

Fast Growing  calves

Their inherent structural soundness and stamina, their ability to adapt to a variety of environmental conditions, and their quiet dispositions are only a few of the qualities that make Pinzgauers the cattleman's choice in a seedstock or commercial herd situation.

North American Entry

Pinzgauers are considered by many International Animal Scientists to be the "standard for genetic purity". The first four head of Pinzgauer were imported into Canada in September 1972. Austrian Fullbloods were first imported to the USA in 1976. Live animals, frozen embryos, and semen all have been imported to establish fullblood herds and to upgrade the Purebred Pinzgauers. Pinzgauer as we know them today are the result of rigid performance and registry demands. The American Pinzgauer Association has a breeding-up program which allows a producer to breed up to Purebred Pinzgauer (7/8 for females, 15/16 for bulls) by starting with commercial cows and using Pinzgauer bulls. At the end of 1989, there were over 30,000 Fullblood and Purebred Pinzgauers in the United States, giving the cattlemen a world wide genetic base on which to build a Pinzgauer herd.