ZOB:401; Economic Zoology April 2020

Dairy… - Introduction to common dairy animals

Developed by .. Dr. Ganesh K Maurya Asst. Prof. Zoology MMV, BHU : -

- large ruminant animals with horns and cloven hoofs, domesticated for meat or milk, or as beasts of burden. 2 Major cattle used in dairy are COW and BUFFALO

Cow (Bos taurus) Buffalo External Morphology of a dairy cattle BREEDS OF COW

• Milch Breeds • Dual Purpose Breeds (Used for Milk) (Used for both Milk & Meat) 1) Gir 1) Hariana 2)Sahiwal 2) Ongole 3) 3) 4) Tharparker 4) Deoni 5) Nimari 6) Dangi 7) Mewati 8) Rathi Drought purpose Breeds - Cows of draught breeds are poor milkers but the bullocks are excellent draught animals (meant for pulling carts and ploughing fields).

1) 6) Kangayam 2) Amritmahal 7) 3) Khillari 8) Siri 4) Bargur 9) 5) 10) Vechur Milch Breeds 1. Gir This breed is otherwise known as Desan, Gujarati, Kathiawari, Sorthi, and Surati. • Originated in Gir forests of South Kathiawar in Gujarat. • Basic colours of skin are white with dark red or chocolate-brown patches or sometimes black or purely red. • Horns are peculiarly curved, giving a ‘half moon’ appearance. • Milk yield ranges from 1200- 1800 kgs. • Age at first calving 45-54 months and inter calving period from 515 to 600 days. 2. Sahiwal

• Originated in Montgomery district in present . • This breed otherwise known as Lola (loose skin), Lambi Bar, Montgomery, Multani, Teli. • The colour is reddish dun or pale red, sometimes flashed with white patches. • The average milk yield of this breed is between 2,725 and 3,175 kgs in lactation period of 300 days 3. Red Sindhi

• This breed is otherwise called as Red Karachi and Sindhi. • This breed mostly found in Karachi and Hyderabad district of Pakistan. • Colour is red with shades varying from dark red to light, strips of white. • Milk yield ranges from 1100- 2600 kgs. • Widely used in crossbreeding programmes. • Age at first calving 39-50 months and inter calving period from 425-540 days. 4.

• Originated in Tharparkar district of southeast Sind in Pakistan. • Otherwise known as White Sindhi, Gray Sindhi and Thari. • Body colour is white or light grey. • The bullocks are quite suitable for ploughing and casting and the cows are good milch animals (1,800 – 2600 kgs). • Age at first calving ranges from 38-42 months and inter calving period from 430 to 460 days. Dual purpose breeds

1. Hariana

• It was originated from Rohtak, Hisar, Jind and Gurgaon districts of Haryana. • Horns are small. • The bullocks are good workers. • Hariana cows are good milkers yielding on an average 1.5 kg/cow/day in a lactation period of 300 days. • Average milk yield is 600 to 800 kgs per lactation. The age at first calving is 40-60 months. 2. Ongole

• Otherwise known as Nellore. • Home tract is Ongole taluk in Gantur district of Andhra Pradesh. • Large heavy muscular body. • Forehead is broad with stumpy horn thick at base • Hump is well developed • Average milk yield is 1000 kgs. Age at first calving is 38-45 months with an intercalving period of 470 days. 3. Kankrej

• It is otherwise called as Wadad or Waged, Wadhiar. • Originated from Southeast Rann of Kutch of Gujarat and adjoining Rajasthan (Barmer and Jodhpur district). • Colour of the animal varies from silver-grey to iron-grey or steel black. • The gait of Kankrej is peculiar called as 1 ¼ paces (sawai chal). • Kankrej is valued for fast, powerful, draught cattle. Useful in ploughing and carting. • The cows are good milkers, yielding about 1360 kgs. 4. DANGI • The breeding tract of Dangi is Nasik, Ahmednagar districts of Maharashtra. • Dangi breed is also known as “Kandadi”. are extensively used for ploughing, harrowing and other field operations, and for carting timber from forest area. • Dangi cattle have distinct white coat colour with red or black spots distributed unevenly over the body. • Horns are short and thick with lateral pointing tips. • The head is usually small with a slightly protruding forehead. • Average milk yield per lactation is 430 kilo grams with an average milk fat of 4.3%. The lactation milk yield ranges from 175 to 800 kg. 5. Deoni

• This breed otherwise known as Dongerpati, Dongari, Wannera, Waghyd, Balankya, Shevera. • Originated in Marathwada region of Maharashtra state and adjoining part of and western Andhra Pradesh states. • Body colour is usually spotted black and white. Horn covered outword and backwords, dip cheet and arched ribs, strong quarters, heavy dewlaps and pendulous sheath. • Age at first calving ranges from 894 to 1540 days with an average of 1391 days. • Milk yield ranges from 636 to 1230 kgs with an average of 940 days. • Caving interval averages 447 days. 6. Rathi

• Rathi found in the arid regions of Rajasthan.. It takes its name from a pastoral tribe called Raths. The Breeding tract of this breed lies in the heart of consisting of Bikaner, Ganganagar and Jaisalmer districts of Rajasthan. • The animals are usually brown with white patches all over the body, but animals having completely brown or black coat with white patches are also seen. • The Rathi cows are efficient and good milkers. The cows on an average produce 1560 kilo grams of milk. The lactation milk yield ranges from 1062 to 2810 Kg. Selected cows have produced around 4800 Kg at farmer’s doorstep 7. Mewati • Mewati, also known as “Kosi” or “Mehwati”, is a draught purpose breed. • The breeding tract includes Gurgaon and Faridabad districts of Haryana: Alwar and Bharatpur Districts of Rajasthan; and Mathura District of Uttar Pradesh. • Mewati cattle are powerful and docile, and are useful for heavy ploughing, carting and drawing water from deep wells. • Mewati cattle are usually white with neck, shoulders and quarters of a darker shade. • Horns are small to medium in size and emerge outwards, upwards and then inwards in majority of animals. However, in some animals the horns emerge outwards and upward. Tips of the horns are pointed. • Face is long and narrow with straight, sometimes slightly bulging forehead. • The average lactation yield reported is around 958 Kg. Drought purpose 1. Hallikar

• Originated from the former princely state of Vijayanagarm, presently part of Karnataka. • The colour is grey white. • They are compact, muscular and medium size animal with long bulging forhead, • Long horn with sharp pointed tip, long face and small ear. • The breed is best known for its draught capacity and especially for its trotting ability. 2. Amritmahal

• Originated in Hassan, Chikmagalur and Chitradurga district of Karnataka. • Amiritmahal are grey cattle but their shade varies from almost white to near black. • Horns are long and end in sharp black points. Horns protruded backside • Ears small and erect, dewlap small • Poor milk producers. 3. Khillari

• Originated from Sholapur districts of Maharashtra. • The typical Khillari animal is compact and tight skinned, with clean cut features and squarely developed hindquarters. • Horns are long and pointed and follow the backward curve of the forehead which are placed close together at the root with thick base. • The ribs are well sprung and give the trunk a barrel shape. • Grey-white in colour and have quick gait • Average milk yield per lactation of Khillar cattle is 451 kg with an average milk fat of 4.2 %. The lactation yield ranges from 240 to 515 kilo grams. 4. Kangayam

• Originated in Kangayam, Dharapuram, Perundurai, Erode, Bhavani and part of Gobichettipalayam taluk of Erode and Coimbatore district.

• Coat is red at birth, but changes to grey at about 6 months of age.

• Bulls are grey with dark colour in hump, fore and hind quarters.

• Bullocks are grey.

• Cows are grey or white. However, animals with red, black, fawn and broken colours are also observed.

• The eyes are dark and prominent with black rings around them. 5. Bargur

• Found around Bargur hills in Bhavani taluk of Coimbtore district of . • are of brown colour with white markings. Some white or dark brown animal are also seen. • Animals are well built, compact and medium in size. 6. Umblachery

• It is otherwise called as Jathi madu, Mottai madu, Molai madu, Therkathi madu. • Originated in Thanjavur, Thiruvarur and Nagappattinam districts of Tamil Nadu. • Umblachery calves are generally red or brown at birth with all the characteristic white marking on the face, on limbs and tail. • The practice of dehorning of bullocks is peculiar in Umblachery cattle. 7. Kherigarh

• Kherigarh is a draught purpose breed and the breeding tract includes “Kheri” district of Uttar Pradesh. The breed has been named after this area. • The breed is also known by various names like “Kheri”, “Kharigarh” and “Khari”. • The animals of this breed are small but active. Kherigarh have white coat colour. Some animals have grey colour distributed all over the body, especially on face. • Horns are upstanding, curving outward and upward and thick at the base. • The standard lactation milk yield ranges from 300 to 500 kilo grams: 8. Red Kandhari • Originated from Kandhar tehsil in of Maharashtra, Red Kandhari is also known as “Lakhalbunda”. • It is a draught breed of cattle. Its breeding tract comprises Ahmadnagar, Parbhani, Beed, Nanded and districts of Maharashtra. • The colour is uniform deep dark red, but variations from a dull red to almost brown are also found. Bulls are a shade darker than cows. • Horns are evenly curved and medium sized. • The bullocks are used for heavy agricultural work like ploughing and carting as well as for transportation. • The cows produce fair quantity of milk with an average of 598 Kg per lactation with average fat percentage of 4.57%. 9. Siri • Siri is a small sized draught purpose breed of hilly region of West Bengal and Sikkim. The breed is also known as “Trahbum”. • The breeding tract of the breed includes Darjeeling district of West Bengal and Sikkim. • The breed is either black or brown with white patches, though totally black or brown animals are also available. • The hump is cervico-thoracic type with tuft of hair on it. • Horns are medium sized and curved outward, forward and slightly upward with sharp and pointed tips. • Animals are housed in slope of hills in open houses. • The males are mainly reared for draught purpose in the hilly area and sometimes they are the only source of draught power. • The breed produces very less amount of milk averaging around 425.8 kg per lactation with fat percentage varying from 2.8 to 5.5%. 10. Vechur

• Vechur is one of the dwarf cattle breeds of , with an average length of 124 cm and height of 87 cm, • it is considered to the smallest cattle breed in the world. It is known by the name of a place Vechur - a small place by the side of Vembanad lake near Vaikam in Kottayam district of Kerala. • The animals are light red, black or fawn and white in colour. In bulls, colour in between fore and hindquarters is relatively dark or dark grey. • Horns are small, thin curving forward and downward. In some cases, they are extremely small and are hardly visible. • The animals are well adapted to the hot and humid climate of the area. • The animals are maintained for manure and milk. • Milk production is relatively higher than any other dwarf cattle. Average milk yield is 561 Kg per lactation and the milk fat percent ranges from 4.7 to 5.8. Breeds of Buffalo All the buffaloes are divides into two types

1. The River type - Are heavier than swamp type - Have higher milk production capacity. - Shows preference for clean running water. - Constitute ~65% and account for ~92% of total milk produced. 2. The Swamp type - Are light weight - Have lower milk production capacity. - Mainly used for drought purpose in the paddy field in South East Asia. - Is a semi-aquatic animal. - Both are good swimmer Swam Type Murrah Nili-Ravi Jafrabadi Surti Godavari Mehsana Bhadawari Nagpuri Toda Pandarapuri Marathwada Brazil Tipo Baio Thialand Buffalo References for further reading………..

1. Animal Husbandary; TNAU AGRITECH Portal. 2. Breads of Cattle and Buffalo; Expert system for cattle and buffalo, ICAR, TNAU.