The cigaja sheep that is bred mainly in the Balkan Peninsula also popular in Southern Transylvania, the Banat, and the counties of Bars and Gömör in Southern Slovakia. It is a medium sized sheep with black head and legs. Its distinctive feature is the greyish colour of the fleece that is caused by black hairs in the white wool. Originally rams wore spiral horns; ewes are hornless or wear crescent-shaped so-called “goat horns”.

Nowadays, hornless sheep are popular to avoid injuries.

Gyimes racka sheep is bred on the wreath of the Carpathian Mountains. The breed has several varieties, such as the Valaschka in the Felvidék (Upper Country: Hungarian name for southern Slovakia) and the Tzurkana in Romania.

It has extra long hair (in some fleeces even 30-40 centimeters), generally with dark patches on the face. Unlike the Hortobágyi Racka, males wear regular open spiral shaped horns. Females are usually hornless or wear short vestigial horns.
Mountain pastures are of better quality than lowland pastures, therefore Gyimes Racka grows bigger (males 80-90 kgs, females 50-60 kgs) and produces more milk than the Hortobágyi Racka. Gyimes Racka flocks used to spend the winters on the Great Plain and resulted crosses that were called Hungarian-Moldavian, Szamosháti and other variations. The breed is still kept in large numbers is Transylvania. In Hungary it is rather bred as part of the cultural heritage and a genetic reserve. Its purebred flock is preserved by the Hortobágyi Nonprofit Company.

As all domesticated goose breeds, the Hungarian Frizzle Feathered Goose originates from the wild Greylag Goose (Anser anser) common also in Hungary.

This is the most peculiar representative of the Hungarian goose breeds. Its back feathers are elongated and curved giving the bird a special look. Its color is white or brindled. The breed is known in several areas in the Danube valley apart from Hungary. The curved feathers are results of a mutation and was preserved in breeding probably for its special beauty. This goose remained an extensive breed that produces relatively few eggs and grows slowly although its liver is said to grow extremely large.

The Department of Animal Husbandry of the University of Debrecen has taken up the role to preserve the breed and it keeps the largest stock today.

Domesticated guinea-fowl originates from the wild African guinea-fowl (Numida meleagris).

It has not changed much during domestication, thus its look is still very much akin to its wild ancestor. It usually has spangled grey plumage, but there are light grey, white and brown birds as well. Guinea-fowl was brought to Hungary in the Roman age and is now commonly kept in farms and homesteads. It is well adapted to extensive rearing thanks to its good ability for searching food and cautious and watchful habit.
Its food is mainly composed of insects. Under these circumstances guinea-fowl produces excellent quality meat that is primarily used in soups. Large-scale guinea-fowl breeding in Hungary ended in the early 1990′s. Now, only one stock is maintained by the Hortobágyi Nonprofit Company as a gene reserve.

The domesticated water buffalo originates from the wild Arni Buffalo (Bubalus arnee) of South Asia.

The breed was brought to the Carpathian Basin by the Avars and has remained part of its fauna since then. It was bred in Transylvania and Southern Transdanubia by family farmers.

Its main use is its draught power and milk (the original Mozzarella cheese is made from it) but the meat of the calves and the skin of adult animals have also good use. Concerning its Southern origin, they have to be kept in stables in the wintertime. With the decrease of the use of animal draught power the number of water buffalos in Hungary have fallen radically. It had a stock in Mezőhegyes in the beginning of the 20th century, then the Nagykanizsa State Farm and the Hortobágy National Park established buffalo stocks.

Water Buffalo is bred now as a gene preserve and part of the cultural heritage in Hungary. It does not have a national breeding plan currently, the stocks are owned by nature protection directorates and national parks.

The common donkey is the domesticated form of the African wild donkey (Equus asius). It is known in the Carpathian Basin for 2500 years and arrived to Hungary presumably from the Balkan Peninsula.

In the mediterranean countries donkeys with high working capacity and good conformation are bred. It was not a respectable animal in Hungary thus its purposeful breeding was neglected. It was used as a pack animal of shepherds and for subsidiary tasks in farms. Earlier its meat was served at special occassions and its fat was recognized as medicine. A saint’s-day at Verpelét was unimaginable without donkey meat. Martina, Franca, and Poitou breed jacks were brought to Hungary in the 1970′s to improve the stock and breed mules but with little success. Planless breeding often leads to inbreeding that promotes the spread of certain recessive traits such as albinism. Albino donkeys are quite common in the Hungarian donkey stock that totals around a few thousand donkeys in the country.

This special sheep that can not be matched with any other in the world is mainly bred around Debrecen, on the Hortobágy and the Kiskunság. It is hard to believe, but, as all domesticated sheep, the Racka also derives from the wild mountain sheep (or argali, Ovis ammon).

It has also been part of the Hungarian consciousness thus many small-scale breeders keep few Rackas among their other sheeps. Once it produced the basic materials for the shepherds’s traditional clothing (“suba”, “guba” and “cifraszűr” felt cloaks and others). Naturally, its milk and meat were also favourable products. The breed is highly tolerate to weather conditions and rearing circumstances, lively and has a lofty space. Its pecularity is the cork-screw horn that both the males and females wear. The breed has two color variations: the black and the white. Rams weigh 70-75 kg and ewes weigh 40-50 kg. Fleece weight is 2-3 kg. Ewes produce 60-100 liters of milk per milking season.

Its purebred flocks are preserved by the Hortobágyi Nonprofit Company, the Directorates of National Parks and the Hungarian Racka Breeders Association.

More than 60 pigeon breeds have been developed in Hungary, that praises the breeding knowledge and animal loving of Hungarian people. Pigeons are indispensable animals of many homeyards both in villages and cities. They appear in the Hungarian world of beliefs, tales and poetry in scores of times. Visitors can find six typical Hungarian pigeon breeds in the Animal Park.

Domestic goats are derived from the wild Bezoar Goat (Capra aegagrus).

Domestic goats were kept in Hungary in the copper age. Our present so-called “parlagi” (common) goat is a typical representative of the “Prisca” domestic goats. Its stocks are kept usually by households without special breeding purposes. Its outlook resembles to Balcanic relations.

“Parlagi” goats are usually monocoloured white, red or black and the body is covered with evenly long hair except the neck that has short hair. In Hungary the goat was called “poors’ cow” because it can be kept with very low cost while it produces relatively high value.
Its milk, meat and skin can be used well.
The Hungarian common goat is small-bodied and less productive compared to the modern intensive breeds, but extremely undemanding and resistant to diseases. From the 1960′s, the breed has almost vanished due to the spreading of modern western breeds. The remaining stock is now under the breeding control of the Hortobágyi Nonprofit Company.

Domesticated turkeys originate from the wild turkey of North America (Meleagris gallopavo). Its shape remained much the same, but the size grew so much due to the domestication that males of intensive turkey breeds can weigh over 20 kilograms today. Common turkeys that are in closer relation with the wild ancestor, such as the Hungarian Bronze or Copper turkeys are much smaller. They are very different from the white colored intensive breeds of the large scale farms thanks to their special briskness and good ability of searching their food. Hungarian Common Turkey females lay usually 25-30 eggs. Young hatchlings are very delicate, but later they became very strong. There are still pureblood Bronze and Copper turkeys in the country, but preservation stocks are maintained by the Research Institute for Animal Breeding and Nutrition in Gödöllő and by the Centre of Agricultural Sciences, University of Debrecen.

The Hungarian Grey Cattle is undoubtedly the most imposing Hungarian farm animal, originating from the now extinct ancient bullock (Bos primigenius).

Its origin is shaded by the past, but the fact is that the breed played a significant role in Hungarian agriculture from the middle ages until the beginning of the 20th century. In the middle ages it was primarily bred as a beef cattle that can be driven to the markets of the Western countries on its feet. Later, however, due to the permeation of the more productive Western breeds, Grey Cattle was used as an excellent draught animal. In the middle ages more than one-hundred thousand cattle were driven from Hungary per year. Historical families such as the Zrínyi, Thököly and Nádasdy also dealt with cattle trade.

Grey Cattle are kept in herds that are made up of about 150-200 animals. Bulls are kept in a separate herd and put in the cow herds only in the mating season. Grey Cattle is productive for a long time, 15 years old or older cows are not rare. This breed can be kept out in the fields all year round and sheltered only in the calving season.

It can produce high quality meat under these circumstances without feed additives. Nowadays, it is primarily bred as a gene reserve, part of our cultural heritage and for the maintenance of nature protection areas. Its breeding is controlled by the Association of Hungarian Grey Cattle Breeders.

The ancestor of domesticated chicken breeds is the Indian Bankiva chicken (Gallus bankiva).

The modern intensive breeds are much larger and more productive than their wild ancestor. The so-called Hungarian native breeds with their 1.5 kilograms average weight were a near relative of their wild ancestor. Domesticated chickens were known in Hungary already in the Roman age, but have significantly developed in size and productivity since then due to crossing them with Western chicken breeds and purposeful breeding.
Even until the past decades, poultry yards in Hungary were ranged in with the colorful varieties of Hungarian chicken. There are yellow, white, barred or partridge colored varieties. The peculiarity of the Hungarian chicken is that it has a naked necked variety.

The modern Hungarian chicken usually weighs about 2 kilograms (hen) or 3-4 kilograms (cocks). Hens produce 80-90 eggs. There are some pureblood chickens in the country, but gene reservation stocks are maintained only in Gödöllő, Mosonmagyaróvár and Hódmezővásárhely.

Mangalica breed developed in the middle of the 19th century when Hungarian lard pigs were crossed with the Serbian Sumadia pig. Due to these crossings, the Mangalica pig was bred in several color varieties after a few decades: Black, Swallow-bellied, Blond and Agouti (wild). The Blond variety was the most common, competent equally on family farms, lords’ estates and large-scale state farms.

Mangalica easily adapts to extensive rearing conditions and has good herding instinct. Although it is not a large pig, it can easily be fattened to a weight of 200 kilograms. Then about 75% of the carcass weight is fat (grease, intestines/chitlins, lard). Thus Mangalica is rightly considered to be among the best lard pigs in the world.

Mangalica was the common pig in Hungary between the World Wars, but the breed almost disappeared by the 1970′s due to the changing of consumers’ needs. Today it is bred in three colors: Blond, Swallow-bellied and Red. The Blond variety is represented now with several thousand registered sows. The Swallow-bellied and Red varieties are still threatened by extinction.

Like all domesticated horse breeds, Nonius is originates from the Eurasian Wild Horse (Equus przewalskii).

In the Napoleon Wars the Austrian Kaiser’s Army took a male foal called Nonius as war booty from the Rosieres Stud in 1815. He then became the founder of the Hungarian Nonius Horse breed. In the Mezőhegyes Stud he fathered 79 male and 122 female horses. The offspring were so uniform, especially from Lipizzan and Kladruby mares, that it resulted a new breed in Mezőhegyes.

Nonius was mainly bred for army purposes as an artillery horse. It has a great body, good working ability and lively temper compared to its size. The horses pulled the cannon in groups of four or six with three gunman directing the horses from the saddle.

The breed later gained place in the Great Plain as an excellent draught horse. It has two varieties: the Great and the Small Nonius. The Great Nonuis, also called Mezőhegyes Nonius or Ménesbirtok (Stud Estate) Nonius, is usually black. The other famous breeding region was the Hortobágy estate of the Town of Debrecen – the Small Sziki (Saline land) Nonius was bred here. The civil farmers of Debrecen preferred red bay or blood bay horses without markings.

Farming importance of the Nonius has significantly decreased by now. There are only a few more than 500 registered purebred Nonius mares in Hungary now.

The largest Nonius stud in Hungary today is at the Hortobágy where 60 puredbred mares serve the preservation of the breed.