# Flocks

The number of animals in the flock was never determined exactly. The pasture and the availability of water decided that. Generally a herd of cattle and a herd of horses consisted of about 500 animals, but in the Kiskunság they often talked of herds containing 800 to 1,000 cattle. The number of pigs in the herd of swine often surpassed a thousand. However, the number of sheep was always less, because processing the milk is possible only in smaller units. Generally one man and one dog came to be thought of as sufficient to herd a hundred head of livestock, and fewer to tend pigs.

The long past of Hungarian animal husbandry is also proved by the fact that the Hungarian language has several names for each flock made up of different animals. Flocks can be designated exactly by the age, sex, and size of the animals kept in them. Formerly the term nyáj (flock, herd) was used for all kinds of stock, but later they spoke of the ménes, a special name for herds of horses (cf. Plate IX). The ciframénes (fancy herd) of Debrecen meant a breeding herd formed of selected mares, while the renyheménes (lazy herd) consisted of draught and castrated horses at times when they were not working. However, the szilajménes (wild herd) was made up of horses who were not yet broken to the saddle nor to harness, who had not yet been in the stable and had spent summer and winter out of doors.

The gulya consisted of a large number of calves, young bullocks or cows, entrusted to the számadó. The flock could belong to a city, a village, or perhaps to a large estate. The számadó got his emoluments in one sum, and he was obliged to keep a definite number of bojtárs on this. The cifragulya consisted of a selected breeding stock. The szűzgulya (virgin flock of cattle) contained the three- to four-year-old animals, not yet used for breeding. The törzs (basic), rideg and szilajgulya (wildflock) were kept outdoors all the year round. The smaller animal stock of one owner was grazed in a kurtagulya (short flock).

Today the name nyáj (flock) refers primarily to sheep (cf. Plate VIII). Falka is the name for a smaller group, in which they usually guard the sheep of a single owner.

Formerly, the konda (herd of swine) spent the entire year outdoors. {253.} The swine rooted in the swamp and pasture from the spring, while they fattened on acorns from the early autumn. In some places, the konda is still called disznónyáj, that is, a herd of swine.