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.
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.
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]
