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Breeds of Australian Dairy Cattle |
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Identifying dairy cows Holstein Friesians
Originally from Holland. With their distinctive black and white markings, they are Australia's most popular dairy cow – and great milk producers.
Jerseys
From the Island of Jersey in the English Channel. Mostly a pale honey colour, these cows are a smaller breed but they produce delicious creamy milk. They keep on keeping on well into old age.
Guernseys
They too come from the English Channel Islands. They have a quiet nature, a result of tethering. Their cute pink noses and golden yellow colour are highlighted by distinctive white markings.
Ayrshire
From Scotland of course! These are good-looking medium-sized cows, with strong facial features, dark browny-red (roan) and white in colour.
Australian Illawarra Shorthorns
Developed in Australia from the imported Shorthorn breed. These are attractive, chunky cows with a rich reddish colour and occasional flashes of white on their flanks.
Dairy Shorthorns
Travellers with the first fleet, these big, strong cows are bred for milk and beef and are identified by their coats of red with white blotches.
Australian Friesian Sahiwals (AFS)
These stoic cows can put up with a lot! Harsh conditions, hot weather, and those annoying little tics and parasites. They too are red-brown in colour.
Australian Milking Zebus (AMZ)
A new cow on the block, bred to make milk under tough tropical conditions. They come in various colours, but gold and fawn are the most common. | 
Holstien Freisian | 
Jersey | 
Guernseys | 
Ayrshire | 
Australian Illawarra Shorthorns | 
Dairy Shorthorns | |
Cow chow! What do cows eat?
Good quality milk requires a good balanced diet.
The cows need to eat a variety of grasses including clover and bulky fodder to make them feel full. In fact, they usually munch their way through 70 kilos of grass and drink 70 litres of water a day!
When feed is in short supply, they might enjoy turnips, millet, oats or hay. But before they can give milk, they must have had a calf. Usually, they have one calf a year. The time when a cow is making milk is called the Lactation Cycle. |  |
Just how do cows make milk? Cows have four stomachs to store and break down the grass which becomes milk.
Stomach 1: The Rumen
Stores the partly chewed grass and mixes it with fluid to assist breakdown.
Stomach 2: The Reticulum
The grass here turns into 'cuds' (balls of grass). From here it is regurgitated and chewed again before passing to the third stomach.
Stomach 3: The Omasum
The 'cuds' become squashed before passing to the fourth stomach.
Stomach 4: The Abomasum
Grass is finally digested and moves through the intestines where essential nutrients are absorbed into the body. Cow's milk is made and stored in the udder. A cow needs to be milked at regular times, twice a day. |  |
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