Blaarkop

The Blaarkop or Groninger Blaarkop is a Dutch breed of dual-purpose cattle. Blaarkop is Dutch for blister head. Its main breeding area is in the province of Groningen.

Groninger Blaarkop

Conservation status	FAO (2007): endangered[1]: 136  DAD-IS (2024): endangered maintained[2] SZH (2024): endangered[3]
Other names	Blaarkop
Country of origin	Netherlands
Use	dual-purpose, milk and meat
Traits
Coat	black-and-white, red-and-white
Cattle Bos (primigenius) taurus

History

Head of a Bellowing Ox, painting by Jan Asselijn, early seventeenth century

White-headed cattle in Holland have been mentioned as early as the fourteenth century.^{[citation needed]} Cattle showing some similarity to the modern Blaarkop appear in an Adoration by Pieter Aertsen dating from about 1560, and in a seventeenth-century Head of a Bellowing Ox by Jan Asselijn.^[4] From the nineteenth century, there are also Blaarkoppen in the Utrecht and Leiden regions.

Bulls of this type were among the cattle shipped to the Cape of Good Hope by Willem Adriaan van der Stel during his time as governor of the Cape Colony (1699–1707).^[5]: 625

De Blaarkopstichting, a non-profit foundation for the development and conservation of the Blairkop, was established in 2002.^[6]

Characteristics

Used for vegetation management near Doorwerth, in Gelderland

The Blaarkop breed is sturdily built with matching muscles, a horned head, and strong legs. Both red (60% of the population) and black (40%) Blaarkoppen exist. The body is solid red or black, while the head is white with a red or black ring (blister) around the eyes; the tail has a white tip.

Bulls are 1.45 to 1.50 metres (4 ft 9 in to 4 ft 11 in) high and weigh 800 kilograms (1,800 lb). Cows are 1.35 to 1.40 metres (4 ft 5 in to 4 ft 7 in) high and weigh 600 kilograms (1,300 lb).

Use

The average milk yield is 6166 kg in a lactation of 315 days, with 4.38% fat and 3.57% protein;^{[7]: 191 [2]} many cows give more than 7000 kg, and yields above 9000 kg can occur.^[8]