A small, honey-brown breed of dairy cattle, the Jersey is renowned for the high butterfat content of its milk, as well as a genial disposition.

Characteristics

The Jersey cow is quite small, ranging from only 800 to 1200 pounds (360 to 540 kg), but by some measures it produces more milk per unit of body weight than any other breed, and has the highest feed-to-milk conversion efficiency of any dairy breed. Bulls are also small, ranging from 1200 to 1800 pounds (540 to 820 kg), and are notoriously aggressive.

Due to the small size, curious docile character and attractive features of the Jersey cow, small herds were imported into England by aristocratic landowners as props for aesthetic landscapes. Among famous owners of Jersey cows was Prince Felix Yussupov who bought a cow in Jersey to add to his collection of exotic pets.

History of the breed

As its name implies, the Jersey was bred on the British Channel Island of Jersey. It apparently descended from cattle stock brought over from the nearby Norman mainland, and was first recorded as a separate breed around 1700. Since 1789, imports of foreign cattle into Jersey have been forbidden by law to maintain the purity of the breed, although exports of cattle and semen have been an important economic resource for the island. The restriction on the import of cattle was initially introduced in 1789 to prevent a collapse in the export price. The United Kingdom levied no import duty on cattle imported from Jersey. Cattle were being shipped from France to Jersey and then being shipped onward to England to circumvent the tariff on French cattle. The increase in the supply of cattle, sometimes of inferior quality, was bringing the price down and damaging the reputation of Jersey cattle. The import ban stabilised the price and enabled a more scientifically controlled programme of breeding to be undertaken.

Sir John Le Couteur studied selective breeding and became a Fellow of the Royal Society - his work led to the establishment of the Royal Jersey Agricultural and Horticultural Society in 1833. At that time, the breed displayed greater variation than it does today with white, dark brown and mulberry beasts. However, since the honey-brown cows sold best the breed was developed accordingly. In 1860 1,138 cows were exported via England, the average price being £16 per head. By 1910 over a thousand head were exported annually to the United States alone.

External links

• Royal Jersey Agricultural & Horticultural Society
• American Jersey Cattle Association
• Australian Jersey Breeders Society
• Jersey Canada

Reference

• Balleine's History of Jersey, Marguerite Syvret and Joan Stevens (1998) ISBN 1860770657

Cattle breeds | Jersey

Dansk jerseyko | Jersey-Rind | Jersiaise | Jersey (runderras)