Guernsey cattle

History

The Guernsey was bred on the Channel Island of Guernsey; it is first documented in the nineteenth century, and its origins are unknown. Cattle were brought to the island in the Middle Ages for draught work. It has been suggested that the Guernsey derives from cattle imported from the French mainland: brindled cattle from Normandy, and wheaten stock similar to the Froment du Léon of Brittany. There may also have been some influence from Dutch cattle in the eighteenth century. During that century, large numbers of cattle were exported from the Channel Islands to England; some of them had previously been brought from France. Imports of French cattle to Guernsey were forbidden by law in 1819, but some importation of British cattle continued until 1877. Some cattle evacuated from Alderney during the Second World War were merged into the breed.

Exports of cattle and semen were, for a while, an important economic resource for the island; in the early 20th century, a large number of Guernsey cattle were exported to the United States. The Guernsey breed is on the watch list maintained by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, with fewer than 2,500 annual registrations in the U.S. and an estimated global population of less than 10,000 animals.

Characteristics

The Guernsey is of medium size: cows weigh , and bulls . The coat is red or fawn (wheat-coloured), and may or may not be pied red-and-white or fawn-and-white. The Guernsey produces rich and flavoursome milk. It traditionally had several other good qualities: it was long-lived, calved without difficulty, grazed well and – being relatively small-sized – was an efficient milk producer. These advantages have been compromised by recent selective breeding strategies, which have led to larger animals, with longer legs. These no longer display the traditional qualities of the breed; this is particularly marked where there has been cross-breeding with Holstein-Friesian stock.

Use

The Guernsey is a dairy breed, and generally is reared for that purpose only. The milk has a golden-yellow tinge caused by a high content of β-carotene, a provitamin for vitamin A. The milk also has a high milk-fat content of 5% and a high milk protein content of 3.7%. Guernsey cows produce around 6000 litres per cow per year.

References

References

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2. "American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, Conservation Priority List, 2012"
3. Anon. (2004). "The Guernsey Cow – Background and History". Guernsey Cattle.
4. "South African Guernsey Breeders". Studbook.co.za.
5. Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20200623201209/http://www.fao.org/3/a1250e/annexes/List%20of%20breeds%20documented%20in%20the%20Global%20Databank%20for%20Animal%20Genetic%20Resources/List_breeds.pdf List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources], annex to: [https://web.archive.org/web/20170110125634/http://www.fao.org/3/a-a1250e.pdf ''The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture'']. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{isbn. 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
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7. [http://dad.fao.org/cgi-bin/EfabisWeb.cgi?sid=b4d4e708144c43a5ecb06aebe8ed47c8,reportsreport16 Transboundary breed: Guernsey]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed August 2017.
8. W.G. de L. Luff (2004) [https://web.archive.org/web/20170830123955/http://www.guernseycattle.com/wp-content/plugins/download-monitor/download.php?id=4 A Short History of The Guernsey Breed]. Guernsey: The World Guernsey Cattle Federation. Archived 30 August 2017.
9. (2006). "Advantages of the Guernsey". WGCF (The World Guernsey Cattle Federation).