The official DU favorite cow breed thread

[Kaleva]

By proclamation and the written rules , I am prohibited from posting a poll here as I don't have a star so all who answer will have to do it the hard way. Which is manually typing in your response.

My fav breed is the Guernsey.

Those who wish to hijack this thread by posting their favorite chicken, pig, sheep, goat, draft horse, and/or work dog breeds may do so.

[NightWatcher]

1. Beefalo

Part beef cow, part bison (buffalo), all good eatin

[Kaleva]

5. A Bison is a very rugged and tough animal

They can survive conditions that the more familiar livestock breeds cannot.

[Arkansas Granny]

2. My favorite cow breed is Jersey.

This looks like the cows we had when I was a kid, horns and all. They are so sweet natured and give the richest milk you can imagine. They make great pets.

[Kaleva]

4. A Jersey is a great choice for those who wish to have a cow for home use.

They are small (thus require less food), good tempered and usually provide enough milk and cream for a family.

[pinboy3niner]

13. "a cow for home use"

aka "side of beef" or simply, "steak."

[hifiguy]

12. That looks like a storybook cow.

Cute!

[turtlerescue1]

33. I'm with you, the Jersey!

[pinboy3niner]

3. Contented

[lastlib]

6. Prime Rib!

My favorite cow! (Porterhouse steak a close second!)

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

25. Oh now that's just mean...

Delicious, but mean.

I've told this story so many times:

I grew up on a farm and every fall the big trucks from the slaughter house would show up and take away 30-40 head of cattle. When I was in high school, there was this one cow that got out constantly. Saturday night, I'd be ready to go out with my friends, and that sucker would be out -- requiring a half hour of herding to get it back in the pasture. I don't know how it did it - I swear it was digging tunnels. But it was just relentless in getting out and a huge pain in the ass.

Now normally when the big trucks from the slaughter house would come, my dad would tell the driver to stop at the local butcher's and drop off one cow, which would be the one that we ate ourselves. Always just any one of them, because who cared, right? That year, my dad pointed to our little problem child and told that driver. "That one. That's the one we want dropped off."

Steak never tasted so good.

[geardaddy]

7. Ankole-Watusi

[Kaleva]

15. An interesting breed!

"Ankoles are able to utilize poor quality forage and limited quantities of food and water. These survival abilities have allowed them as a breed to not only survive the centuries in Africa but to become established in Europe, South America, Australia and North America.
Ankole-Watusi kept at National Zoo Malaysia.

The Ankole-Watusi is medium in size, with cows weighing 950–1,200 pounds (430–540 kg) and bulls weighing 1,200–1,600 pounds (540–730 kg). Newborn calves weigh just 30–50 pounds (14–23 kg) and remain small for several months. This low birth-weight makes Ankole-Watusi bulls useful for breeding to first-calf-heifers of other breeds.

During the day, the calves sleep together, with an "auntie" cow nearby for protection. At night, the herd-members sleep together, with the calves in the center of the group for protection. The horns of the adults serve as formidable weapons against any intruders."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankole-Watusi_%28cattle%29

[geardaddy]

20. Thanks for the info!

To be honest, I was looking for a different breed to post.

[Kaleva]

21. Loos like it'd do well in dry regions.

[pipi_k]

8. Whatever kind

gives chocolate milk

[ohiosmith]

9. Butter!

[hedgehog]

10. The Dexter

[Kaleva]

30. The Dexter would be a good choice where having a larger breed would be problematic

"Dexter cattle are the smallest of the European cattle breeds, being about half the size of a traditional Hereford and about one third the size of a Friesian (Holstein) milking cow. They were considered a rare breed of cattle, until recently, but are now considered a recovering breed by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. The Dexter breed originated in Ireland."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexter_cattle

While I said the Guernsey, considering my current physical limitations, that breed would be too big to handle and thus the Dexter would be the logical choice but it might even be too much for me.

[Major Nikon]

11. Prime

[Kali]

14. oh come on!

I love them all. and like dogs, some of the best are just mutts.

[LNM]

16. The Scottish Hairy Coo!

&feature=related

[elleng]

17. ITCHY coo!!!

[Kaleva]

18. You know an animal is tough when it uses barbed wire to cure an itch.

[pokerfan]

19. Highland

[rad51]

22. Black angus!

Also boer goats. I might be biased, they pay my bills.

[Petrushka]

23. Hereford for beef --- Jersey for milk. (eom)

[HopeHoops]

24. Oh, lots of them.

[Baitball Blogger]

31. Is the Chick-fil-A cow an Arshire or a Holstein?

[pinboy3niner]

35. I think it starts with 'G'...

[HopeHoops]

38. They're Assholes. Apparently that's a breed.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

26. Brown Swiss

?w=640

I was just at the Wisconsin State Fair looking at all the cattle.

[Scuba]

27. Golden Guernseys produce a rich, creamy milk as compared to Holstein's that produce....

... a thin, watery milk, but more of it.

Guernseys are also much prettier than Holsteins, although Brown Swiss are even cuter. I knew a farmer years ago who was happy with his low-producing Brown Swiss just because of their beauty. Wonder how often factory farms consider that!

[Silver Swan]

34. When I was a child, my father had Holsteins

While my uncle had Guernseys.

When my father would say that Guernseys didn't give enough milk to cover the bottom of the pail, my uncle would respond, "At least, with Guernseys, you can't see the bottom of the pail through the milk."

[Scuba]

36. Yes, and I knew a farmer who had a dozen guernseys and one Holstein....

.... he joked the Holstein was for rinsing out his milk pail.

[hlthe2b]

28. Jersey!!!!!!!

Last edited Tue Aug 7, 2012, 11:09 AM - Edit history (2)

How could one vote against these
faces? I could just smooch this little fella. (but do not be deceived--the bulls are still bulls and act accordingly )

[Equate]

29. I'm going to say the Red/White cows.

Here's a stupid cat moment.

[hack89]

32. The Oreo Cow

otherwise known as the Belted Galloway

[Scuba]

37. These are very cool. Used to be a nice herd up in Maine between Augusta and Rockland....

... they were a nice complement to the rest of the Maine scenery.