My sister's cow was a Guernsey when we were growing up, and the cow was a steady producer of excellent milk. She would jump the fence to the bull next door every time she went into heat, and tear up her udder, which was a mess to deal with, but she was otherwise well behaved and produced nice calves (thanks to said bull). The milk had a thick layer of yellow cream on top, from which we sometimes made butter in our Kitchenaid mixer. Our cattle grazed in the hay fields in the winter, and in the woods in the summer, and thrived on the varied forage. We never grained them, the milk cow was fed a leaf of hay when being milked, and she produced well (this was in the Pacific Northwest where there was always still just a tiny bit of green in the woods through the winter, where it snows, and freezes, but winters are considered mild).

Guernsey cattle are similar to Jerseys, having been isolated on a small island (Jerseys on the Isle of Jersey, Guernseys on the Isle of Guernsey), and both are known for rich milk. At least, they were historically. Like the Jersey, the Guernsey has also been the victim of up-breeding, and has been crossed with Brown Swiss, or Brown Holsteins, in the effort to make this producer of rich milk produce MORE milk, and by so doing, the richness of the milk has been diluted and compromised.

Guernseys produce milk that is superior for cheese making, having a genetic asset that causes them to produce milk that forms a firmer curd. They perform very well on pasture, and are generally good tempered.

The breed is fairly self-sufficient, doing well on varied forage. They also calve more easily than many dairy breeds, in part because they are a smaller cow.

• Type - dairy
• Size - medium
• Production Capacity - Excellent, especially considering their size.
• Special Features - Easy calving
• Best for Farms - Excellent dairy animal for family farms and small pastured dairies.
• Eggs, Milk, Meat Features - High levels of vitamins and minerals in their milk, and very high Beta Carotene.
• Other Products - Some market for hides
• Historic or Contemporary Significance - A long history in the US for both commercial dairies, and home farms.
• Housing and Space Requirement - Typical
• Regional Adaptations - Adaptable to a range of conditions.
• Feed Requirement - Typical, with a preference for good varied pasturage.
• Other Considerations - Select your bloodlines carefully with this breed. Corrupted bloodlines will have paler milk, and the cows will be larger. Look for milk that has yellow cream in a thick layer on top.

A NOTE ABOUT COWS:

It seems that the Holstein is the bane of the Heritage Cattle world. Holsteins were bred for one purpose - to produce milk as fast as possible, and as much as possible, regardless of reduction in quality (which is significant, the cream is a washed out white color, and they have the lowest butterfat percentage and the lowest protein percentage of all cattle, and do not even produce enough butterfat for their milk to qualify as "whole milk" straight from the cow!). 

Historic breeds were adapted for various conditions, and as a result, came in many sizes, with higher quality milk than the Holstein. Some cows have twice the butterfat (this is a GOOD THING!), and quite a bit more protein than the Holstein, and whereas the milk of a Heritage cow generally has cream that rises yellow to the top of the jar, and is the same color as most butter in the stores, many breeds have lost the richness and high vitamin A content in the milk, to crossing with Holsteins to increase production (high vitamin A content is a combination of diet and genetics).

Honestly folks, if you are going to take a Jersey, or Guernsey cow, and turn it into a Holstein, why bother? Just use a Holstein and stop corrupting Heritage breeds and calling them purebreds!

We've lost much of the nutrition of whole milk, and we've lost the quality of meat produced by slower growing cattle. When cows are pushed to produce abnormally fast, or abnormal amounts of milk or meat, the body of the cattle takes shortcuts, resulting in meat that is more difficult for many people to digest, and milk that has lower nutritional value.

So, if we are going to get back to Heritage Cattle, we really need to make sure the cows we are preserving are those that do NOT have Holstein blood in them. 

Our preference for raising cattle is on pasture, but we realize that many small farms must compromise due to a lack of space. Especially those microfarms where cow's milk is needed, but space is very limited.

We really don't recommend having a milk or beef cow on a farm that is less than 5 acres. Goats, or even sheep, are more suited to smaller farms for milk production. Even so, sometimes it ends up being a necessity when cow's milk is better digested than goat milk, or when a family requires the ability to easily make butter.

One of the great misunderstandings about cattle is that they can only eat four things: Grass, Alfalfa, COB (Corn, Oats, and Barley), and Pelleted Feed. This is a great nutritional disservice to cows, who can eat a wide range of feeds, including much garden produce, many plants that grow in mixed pastures very well (not just grasses, but clovers, vetch, field peas, wildflowers, and much more). Mixed pastures are superior forage for cattle, providing a wider range of nutrition, lots of seed heads, and good mixed hay for winter. Providing good mixed pasture can reduce or eliminate the need for grain, and make pelleted feed completely unnecessary (we think it SHOULD be unnecessary). 

Cows come in a range of sizes, from miniature (such as the Dexter), up to those as large as the Holstein. In between we have the Jersey, the Brown Swiss, and other cattle of varying sizes. 

Miniature cows usually less than half the milk of a full sized cow, and will produce less than half the amount of beef as well - often only a quarter. They fit on far less pasture though, and can be raised on 2 acres or so, instead of 5-10 per cow (for good grazing, without excessive damage to the land). They may be a good choice for many people, in part because they may feel much easier to handle than larger cattle. 

One of the great losses in Heritage Cattle is the virtual disappearance of Dual Purpose cattle. Too often, Dual Purpose cattle breeds have been "preserved" only by up-breeding for beef production. The milking qualities have been lost to this. This is one reason why some breeds have split, with the Milking variety retaining the historic Dual Purpose traits, and being the more rare, and the Beef variety being the more common. With the majority of breeds though, milking traits have been entirely lost, and only beef traits remain, which has caused these breeds to lose much of their utility on small self-sufficient farms, where Dual Purpose cattle are of far more value than single purpose.

This change in historic breeds is one reason that many breeds which originally would have been excellent choices for our listings, are not found here. Honestly, one more beef breed that has nothing distinctive in performance over any other beef breed, and which is so rare as to be impossible to obtain, is not a practical option for small farms! 

The breeds we chose to list are those that we feel have the most value and are most worth preserving for homesteads, microfarms, small self-sufficiency farms, and small pasture based farms.