Busa cattle

I have 13 cows of busa breed. They are small cows living with us since neolithic times. Their height is not more then 110 cm and weight around 250kg (bulls 350kg) and they give 4-9l of milk daily (with 8% of fat). They are extremly rare with cca 400 left. They are very modest animals that could be compared to goats when it comes to food.
Last month I struck my luck to get one of the last of its kind Tiger busa bull!!! This beauty weights only 330kg and unfortunately it is one of the last that exist. We hope to save it from extinction!



here You can see bulls real size!

Wow, amazing!  Where are you purchasing this breed?

How wonderful that you are working to save them and letting us all know about them at the same time...

Keep the pictures coming ~

I moved to Serbia 2 years ago. We started a farm overthere.

zemijak I love your cattle!
You are doing great work by saving these cattle.  Are they from Serbia or would they have been in other places in europe?
Im in Finland and our native cows are also quite small,we are farming on a very small scale we have 8 finn sheep and 3 pregnant Kainuu Harma (old finnish breed) we are planning on getting goats and a couple of cows.
It would be lovely to hear more about your farm..... an othere animals? how big is it? are you in the mountains?
have you done farming before?
Oh and please more pictures

Welcome to the site
Please keep posting...
Nicola.

Awh . . . I found some information about your cattle Zemljak, thank you for posting about your farm, and this breed of cattle.

Busa

The breed of cattle called Busa or sometimes Busha, Bosnian or Illyrian are a small native breed which belong to a group of primitive short horned cattle (Bos brachyceros europaeus) with multiple strains of the breed being found across the Balkans. Some sources state that the Busa has existed around the Balkan Peninsula since Neolithic times.

In the 19th Century, Busa from Croatia and Bosnia (then under the Austria-Hungarian Empire) were crossed with an Austrian breed. This cross is larger than the original Busa and it is exclusively grey in color.

During the civil war (in Bosnia) in the 1990's, the Yugoslav army brought Busa in from Serbia, these cattle were all used as a meat supply. So although the Busa is sometimes referred to as Bosnian the use of this name is incorrect as the majority of the Busa population is in the Southern Balkans and found in the mountainous regions of Serbia.

Today in Kosovo, cattle are the main source of milk and meat with small scale farmers making up 95% of the industry. Research shows that the Busa in Kosovo is nearly the only breed which provides genetic bases for the majority of crosses in the country.

Today a pure Busa is very rare and generally are found in mountainous, hilly areas of Serbia. There is a herdbook for the Busa, which is helping the determination of the different strains and increasing numbers of the breed.

Characteristics
Busa colour varies according to the regional strain. For example the strain from the Metohija region of Yugosalvia are red, while the Macedonian strain is blue-grey. In Serbia there are three strains - black (considered the oldest), red and grey.

They have a compact conformation, the average cow stands 104cm at the withers and weighs between 230 and 270kgs. The average bull measures 115cm at the withers and weighs between 340 and 430kgs.

The breed are very resistant to disease, internal and external parasites, plus survive well with a minimum ammount of management, low feed and natural grazing.
It is also said that this breed is very clean as they defacate in one place only compared to other cattle which go anywhere.

The milk production is very efficient compared to their small size, each lactation averages 1400kgs over a 240-280 day period. The calves are born at about 15 to 22kgs and put 500gms on per day.

# Disease and parasite resistant
# Minimal management required
# Thrives on natural grazing
# Efficient milk producer relative to body size

Distribution
Busa can be found throughout southern Yugoslavia, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia and Serbia. Breeding programs and associations are being set up to determine breed strains and standards as well as to keep Busa numbers constant.

suomi--Nicola Lloyd wrote:
Are they from Serbia or would they have been in other places in europe?
Im in Finland and our native cows are also quite small,we are farming on a very small scale we have 8 finn sheep and 3 pregnant Kainuu Harma (old finnish breed) we are planning on getting goats and a couple of cows.
It would be lovely to hear more about your farm..... an othere animals? how big is it? are you in the mountains?
have you done farming before?

Nicola.

Hi Nicole,
pure buse is left only in Serbia. I would love to see photos of Your cows! We run small biodynamic farm north of Belgrade. No mountains - some hills.

Here is Balkan goat - another beauty!





regards

Zoran

Jami McBride wrote:
Awh . . . I found some information about your cattle Zemljak, thank you for posting about your farm, and this breed of cattle.

Busa

The breed of cattle called Busa or sometimes Busha, Bosnian or Illyrian are a small native breed which belong to a group of primitive short horned cattle (Bos brachyceros europaeus) with multiple strains of the breed being found across the Balkans. Some sources state that the Busa has existed around the Balkan Peninsula since Neolithic times.

Busa cow and calf
Photo courtesy of Zoran Petrov, Busa breeder, Serbia
In the 19th Century, Busa from Croatia and Bosnia (then under the Austria-Hungarian Empire) were crossed with an Austrian breed. This cross is larger than the original Busa and it is exclusively grey in colour.

During the civil war (in Bosnia) in the 1990's, the Yugoslav army brought Busa in from Serbia, these cattle were all used as a meat supply. So although the Busa is sometimes referred to as Bosnian the use of this name is incorrect as the majority of the Busa population is in the Southern Balkans and found in the mountainous regions of Serbia.

Today in Kosovo, cattle are the main source of milk and meat with small scale farmers making up 95% of the industry. Research shows that the Busa in Kosovo is nearly the only breed which provides genetic bases for the majority of crosses in the country.

Today a pure Busa is very rare and generally are found in mountainous, hilly areas of Serbia. There is a herdbook for the Busa, which is helping the determination of the different strains and increasing numbers of the breed.

Characteristics
Busa colour varies according to the regional strain. For example the strain from the Metohija region of Yugosalvia are red, while the Macedonian strain is blue-grey. In Serbia there are three strains - black (considered the oldest), red and grey.

They have a compact conformation, the average cow stands 104cm at the withers and weighs between 230 and 270kgs. The average bull measures 115cm at the withers and weighs between 340 and 430kgs.

The breed are very resistant to disease, internal and external parasites, plus survive well with a minimum ammount of management, low feed and natural grazing.
It is also said that this breed is very clean as they defacate in one place only compared to other cattle which go anywhere.

The milk production is very efficient compared to their small size, each lactation averages 1400kgs over a 240-280 day period. The calves are born at about 15 to 22kgs and put 500gms on per day.

Statistics
# Disease and parasite resistance
# Minimal management required
# Thrives on natural grazing
# Efficient milk producer relative to body size

Distribution
Busa can be found throughout southern Yugoslavia, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia and Serbia. Breeding programs and associations are being set up to determine breed strains and standards as well as to keep Busa numbers constant.

Yeah, that was my post on cattle site.

Zoran

suomi--Nicola Lloyd wrote:

Im in Finland and our native cows are also quite small

I tried to google for Your cows but without much luck! Could You post a photo?

Thanks!

Would it be possible to purchase semen shipped here to the USA?
I am interested in cross breeding dairy cows with older breeds.

I don´t have a clue! It has to do more with US custom regulations?

regards

Dear Mr.Zoran,I am very interested in busa cows.I have a wish to buy one small busa cow for milking and for company for my Dexter bull.Can You help me ?I live in Novo mesto,Slovenia.Choose language(I do not read cirilica).I opened new topic:busa cow.Thank You,Jolanda.

Mister Zoran you have nice cattle, it is great that there are people who wish to preserve native breeds. But it is not true that pure busa cattle are only in Serbia. It is true that busa cattle is endangered (in all countrys), but there are still pure busa in Croatia, BiH ...............

It is important to mention that there are some differences in Busa from different countrys.
For example Busa from Kosovo are mostly red, it is assumed that  Busa cattle from Lika(Croatia) are smallest of all busa populations...............

Breeder Ivica Franić with 2 yrs. old bull Aga(lička buša).


Exhibition of Busa cattle in Lika.


Buse from exhibition in Lika.




Busa bull(probably Croatia)


Busa from Kosovo


Busa calf.

In some cases Busa is used to cross with other breeds to produce new breeds.

For example in Herzegovina Busa cows were crossed with bulls of imported breeds(mostly Austrian) and Gatačko govedo(Gacko cattle) is created. That cattle is larger than pure busa(can be heavy to 500 kg) and its produce more milk.

Gacko bull (bik gatačkog goveda)


Gacko young cow(heifer)


Busa cattle is tough, resistant, high fertility breed with milk with high proportion of butterfat and proteins.


In the midle of 20. century Busa in importet to Izrael. (If someone has info abot that please write about that)

hercegovac wrote:
Mister Zoran you have nice cattle, it is great that there are people who wish to preserve native breeds. But it is not true that pure busa cattle are only in Serbia. It is true that busa cattle is endangered (in all countrys), but there are still pure busa in Croatia, BiH ...............

It is important to mention that there are some differences in Busa from different countrys.
For example Busa from Kosovo are mostly red, it is assumed that  Busa cattle from Lika(Croatia) are smallest of all busa populations...............

Hello, hello!

You might be right - my observation is not based on information from the field for obvious reasons! It is based mainly from secondary sources. cattle from Herzegovina is not busa. Ones from Croatia that I saw on internet were not busa at all!

Bur Your photos are from busa without any doubts! I am so happy to see a tiger busa on one of Your photos as we are trying to preserve that type of busa. I am looking forward to hear more from You. Busa is native Balkan cattle that remains in the mountains pockets - now I know there are in Lika as well.

Can I ask - what are the good points about the Busa breed, I mean are they known for milk, meat, foraging for themselves or what?

Thanks for introducing us to this breed of cattle  

In Herzegovina  we have pure Busa- but it is endangered. And also we have diferent crosses with Busa. Gacko cattle is also caled Gacko busa, but still pure busa can be found.

Hmm....... good  points............
Tough, resistant cattle with good fertility, longevity, quality milk.
Like I said Busa cattle (with some other breeds) is importet to Izrael use them on some breeds, and these qualities that I mentioned were reason.

Herd of quality busa cows in Gospić(Croatia) 1955. in average gave 1600l milk with evet to 6% milk fat. Compared to their body weight that means they gave 5-6 times more milk that their body weight.
That is like Simental cow who gave 4000l.(It would be interesting to find average milk production for dairy cows in 1950.)

Note that there were not selection to milk production like in some other dairy breeds(busa is native "old"  breed  for combined production)

@Zemljak I tried to send you email, but it seems something is wrong.

ps.

It would be nice to see more pics of your cattle, greetings.

zemljak wrote:
Hello, hello!

You might be right - my observation is not based on information from the field for obvious reasons! It is based mainly from secondary sources. cattle from Herzegovina is not busa. Ones from Croatia that I saw on internet were not busa at all!

Bur Your photos are from busa without any doubts! I am so happy to see a tiger busa on one of Your photos as we are trying to preserve that type of busa. I am looking forward to hear more from You. Busa is native Balkan cattle that remains in the mountains pockets - now I know there are in Lika as well.

Greetings,

and there are also few of the Busha cattle in Dalmatia left. Don't forget about us. Main strong point of Busha breed is resistance to diseases, and they can thrive in marginal land where other breeds could not succeed. Milk is of exceptional quality; more than 8% milk fat. In Dalmatia percentage of milk fat with these breed averaged around 9%.

Davor

malus wrote:
Greetings,

and there are also few of the Busha cattle in Dalmatia left. Don't forget about us. Main strong point of Busha breed is resistance to diseases, and they can thrive in marginal land where other breeds could not succeed. Milk is of exceptional quality; more than 8% milk fat. In Dalmatia percentage of milk fat with these breed averaged around 9%.

Davor

Greetings to You Davor!

It is nice to know that there are few busa in Dalmatia as well! Please send some photos.

Greetings to all of you,

I have been reading about busa lately so I came accross this discussion. I am from Croatia as well and I have olive groves in Pirovac, Dalmatia. I inherited some from my grandfather, bought some more land together with my father and we are still buying and planting olive trees. My idea is to get the whole thing to a new level in the next few years and start implementing animals. I was thinking about pigs (black slavonian pig), sheeps, poultry but I wonder would it be possible to have busa cattle grazing between olives? Would she eat the leaves and the small branches? There is some grass all year round, and planty in spring and summer. I would keep only a few animals and rotate them to new pasture when needed. I have some 3 acres in one piece (and many smaller pieces of land) and my plan is to put fence around it next year. I will also make a wooden poultry house and start keeping turkeys (dalmatinska tuka), a heritage, domestic and resistant breed. I have water on the site. I am not looking for incomes, I want some good, organic fertilizer for my olives (and my garden as well), I want to get rid of the weeds, I want some healthy, tasty poultry for my family, could I get a grass fed beef steak as well? Davor, where in dalmatia do you have busa?
This is my first post ever, thank you for your answers.
Sasa

Those are some nice looking cattle.  I imagine they would be very good for a small homestead on less than flat land...especially if one was a cheese maker.  With the high butter fat content, I bet they make some wonderful, creamy cheeses.

Mir i sreću

Oh, if only we could get these into the US!  What a wonderful breed!  I am in California and as many of us have very small lots the smaller animals are becoming more and more popular.  Thank you (vala!) for sharing.

i really like that brindle coloration

zemljak wrote:
I have 13 cows of busa breed. They are small cows living with us since neolithic times. Their height is not more then 110 cm and weight around 250kg (bulls 350kg) and they give 4-9l of milk daily (with 8% of fat). They are extremly rare with cca 400 left. They are very modest animals that could be compared to goats when it comes to food.
Last month I struck my luck to get one of the last of its kind Tiger busa bull!!! This beauty weights only 330kg and unfortunately it is one of the last that exist. We hope to save it from extinction!

Hi Zemljak,

it's a must to save the Busha cattle!

I wonder if you know SAVE http://www.save-foundation.net/english/actual.htm . They will have their next annual meeting in Dimitrovgrad http://www.save-foundation.net/pdf/SAVE_2011.pdf . I know from them about the Busha topic, these cattles have to be saved for the future, that's for sure.

Wishing you all the best with your future endeavours.
Osthof

Hi,

Yes I do know for their meeting. Unfortunately I will be in Scotland for Mangalitza International meeting.

regards

malus wrote:
Greetings,

and there are also few of the Busha cattle in Dalmatia left. Don't forget about us. Main strong point of Busha breed is resistance to diseases, and they can thrive in marginal land where other breeds could not succeed. Milk is of exceptional quality; more than 8% milk fat. In Dalmatia percentage of milk fat with these breed averaged around 9%.

Davor

We plan to go for vacation to Dubrovnik. I'd like to take this chance to visit some Busha Breeders in the area. I wonder if you could drop me a personal message with some contacts. Would be great!

Osthof

sorry I don´t know any busa breader around Dubrovnik but would strongly recommend visiting Trebinje and Mokra Gora http://www.mecavnik.info/wsw/index.php?p=197

Dubrovnik is one day visit once in a life time. Trebinje is something else.

Those interested in Busa (Busha) cattle may like to know that it is possible they will be singled out for assistance under European Union Agri-Environmental Measures in Macedonia (Technically the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia).
The aim is to preserve them as a traditional breed in danger of extinction.
Currently the detail of how this might be done is under discussion.

Do You have more info on this?

regards and thanks

Take a look at http://www.sepa.gov.rs/download/ae_programme_for_serbia.pdf which covers Serbia.
A Google search using the phrase "busha agri environment" will also throw up several other useful links.
There may be more news for Macedonia within the next 12 months.

Thanks!

Where are You located?

regards

There are pure Bushas in Macedonia too, they are bred by the Yoruk population in the hills of eastern Macedonia. They raise them for meat and the flocks are free ranging no confinement at all. Its really amazing how hardy these are.

Hi everyone. Im from the Czech republic and I am a vet we are interested with a colleague and a farm in Slovakia to buy a few busa cattle cows to breed them here - we think they are amazing and would like to have a flock here. Anyone can please advise me where to buy them? Thank you very much. Saw the posts i hope all of the breeders are doing great and so are they animals. looking forward hearing any suggestions.