apply : Pineywoods and Florida Crackers are treble - purpose cattle ideal for small - farm kick production , milking , and tipple determination ( they make great small oxen ) , particularly in the southeasterly level of province . Beef produced by these breed is lean , flavorful , and their smaller carcasses make idealistic deep-freeze beef for today ’s small families . Thanks to their tasty beef , both Pineywoods and Florida Cracker cattle are list on Slow Foods USA ’s Ark of Taste . And , since some straining emphasise dairy farm qualities ; cows from these families make excellent hobby farm family dairy farm cows .
account : If you ’re look for a audacious , all - American breed custom - cut for the South , seek no further : Pineywoods and Florida Crackers are the breeds you need . The chief difference between Pineywoods and Florida Cracker Bos taurus is their spot of blood line . Both descend from criollo ( Spanish gunstock born in the New World ) cattle . One strain , the Pineywood , evolved in the longleaf pine tree forests of Louisiana , Mississippi , Alabama and Georgia , while the Florida Cracker is a product of the Sunshine State . Both breed share a vernacular history . When Spain set out to claim the New World , she send cattle with her conquistadors and settler , to the tune of about 300 drumhead . These animals proliferate . In many suit cattle escaped or were empty to the natural state so that in clock time a vast savage universe roamed New Spain . They became the Longhorns of Texas , the Corriente of Mexico , and the Pineywoods and Florida Crackers of the southeasterly state . finally , breeders ‘ improve ’ native cattle by crossing them with warmth - hardy , humped zebu bull like the American Brahmin , until thoroughbred almost ceased to exist . However , a fistful of consecrate families in both regions observe herds of pure , aboriginal stock and in the 1990 ’s the Pineywoods Cattle Registry and Breeders Association and the Florida Cracker Cattle Association were form to preserve them . Both breeds are listed under the decisive heading of the American Livestock Breeders Conservancy ’s watch listing and additional conservator are needed .
compliance : Pineywoods and Florida Crackers get along in a all-embracing palette of spotted and self-colored coloring let in Black , reds , yellow , and blues in speckles , linebacks and roan . Some lines lean toward beefiness , others more toward dairy farm type . Most Pineywoods and Florida Crackers are clean rangy with light- to middling - heavy muscling and bone , and they weigh in the 600 to 1000 pound mountain range . “ Guinea ” or dwarf cattle with shorter heads and leg occur in both breeds . Both horned and canvas bloodlines exist but the majority of Pineywoods and Florida Cracker oxen are horned , with motor horn type diverge from short , curving , Holstein - like horns to large , upswept , pretty Longhorn - type miscellany . They have short , glistening summertime hair coat but grow longer hair in the wintertime months .
Special Considerations / Notes : Pineywoods and Florida Cracker oxen are self - sufficient animals that thrive on rough grazing land and brush with minimal human intervention . They are unusually easy keepers . Both breeds are long - live and prolific . Pineywoods and Florida Cracker oxen have secure maternal instincts and produce plenty of Milk River for their calves .
