The Bohuskulla is an endangered Swedish
breed
A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...
of hornless mountain
cattle. It originates from the area of the plateau in northern
Bohuslän
Bohuslän (; da, Bohuslen; no, Båhuslen) is a Swedish province in Götaland, on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea ...
and
Dalsland, in western Sweden. It is a traditional domestic Swedish breed, and derives from a group of cattle discovered in the 1990s in
Skepplanda
Skepplanda is a locality situated in Ale Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 1,803 inhabitants in 2010.
Despite the size of the village, it has a swimming facility, a tennis court and a sports centre. Skepplanda has two differe ...
, in
Västergötland, close to the border with Bohuslän.
Microsatellite analysis has shown it to be closely related to the
Fjällko mountain cattle of Sweden.
History
The Bohuskulla is a traditional domestic Swedish breed.
Microsatellite analysis has shown it to be closely related to the
Fjällko mountain cattle of Sweden; however, unlike the Fjällko, it is
polled, hornless. It originates from the barren pasture land of the plateau in northern
Bohuslän
Bohuslän (; da, Bohuslen; no, Båhuslen) is a Swedish province in Götaland, on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea ...
and
Dalsland, in western Sweden. Many were exported to Norway in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
In the 1990s a small population was identified in
Skepplanda
Skepplanda is a locality situated in Ale Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 1,803 inhabitants in 2010.
Despite the size of the village, it has a swimming facility, a tennis court and a sports centre. Skepplanda has two differe ...
, in
Västergötland, close to the border with Bohuslän; the cattle had been brought from the Kynnefjäll. A
herd-book for the breed was established in 1993.
There is a programme of recovery and conservation of the breed. The Bohuskulla is grouped with two other endangered indigenous cattle breeds, the
Ringamålako and the
Väneko, as
Allmogekor, or roughly "Swedish native cattle". Conservation and registration of these populations is managed by a society, the Föreningen Allmogekon.
In the past, some
cross-breeding with the
Fjällnära boskap breed of mountain cattle was allowed. Under a new breeding plan drawn up in 2007, this is no longer permitted.
In 2011 the total Bohuskulla population was reported to be 39 cows and 11 bulls, with
semen from a further 7 bulls available for
artificial insemination. In 2008 the Bohuskulla was reported to
DAD-IS with 36 registered cows. In 2016 it was no longer among the breeds reported by the
Swedish Board of Agriculture.
Characteristics
The Bohuskulla has the typical qualities of mountain cattle: it is agile, fertile, and calves easily. The coat is variable; it is often
colour-sided
Colour-sided or lineback is a type of fur pattern in domesticated cattle.
It consists of any solid body colour (such as black, red, or brindle) with white finching along the spine, along the underbelly, and over the tail, head, and legs. The ...
, either black or brown. Bulls weigh approximately , cows about .
Use
Like the other Allmogeko breeds, the Bohuskulla is not very productive.
References
{{Cattle breeds of Sweden
Cattle breeds originating in Sweden
Agriculture in Sweden
Cattle breeds