Jersey cattle

The Jersey cow is a breed of cattle house. It originally came from the Channel Island of Jersey and was grown there for centuries without being influenced by other breeds.

The Jersey cow is colored yellowish to light brown and the smallest domestic Domestic Cattle. The cows weigh only 300-400 kg and have a height at the withers of 120 cm. The most important breed characteristic is the extremely high-fat ( 5-6 %) and protein content (about 4.0%) of the milk. For the amount of milk is around 5,000 kg per animal and year is less than in most dairy breeds.

Since the late 19th century animals of this breed were exported to North America in particular, Denmark and New Zealand. There emerged from the imported animals larger stocks than on the origin of the island.

The Jersey cow has been widely used in the second half of the 20th century as crossing partners in other dairy cattle breeds to improve the milking speed and above all to increase the fat content. It is but seldom resorted to the Jersey cow in the Channel Islands, but in many cases on the slightly larger and more powerful Danish Jersey or the Jersey cow of the U.S.. Today, the bulls are used internationally within the breed.

Jersey bulls were bred in the years 1955 to 1967 species conservation in the Estonian cattle. In the breeding of Holstein-Friesian dairy cattle (SMR ) of the GDR were crossed in 1961 as an intermediate step the black colorful lowland cattle with Danish Jersey and set up on this generation Holstein - Friesian.

Due verschäfter stable measurements in the Swiss animal protection law, it may be an option for farmers to have to make the change to Jersey cows no stable reconstruction.