Do you know the Body and Structure of Your Jerseys?
When people think about dairy cows and where their milk comes from, there’s probably a low amount of people that think of the cows that “make the chocolate milk.” They've probably never even seen a picture of a brown cow, let alone know they exist. Jersey cows in our opinion are the most underrated breed of dairy cattle, and what people don’t know about them is that they’re the friendliest, smallest, and basically most worthwhile breed of cows to own and raise, not that we’re biased or anything.
Distinctive Features
One of the first things people need to know about the Jersey cow is that they are one of the smallest breed of dairy cattle. With males maxing out at a little less than a ton, and fully grown females clocking in-between 880 and 1,100. In return for their small size, they are also minimum maintenance. Starting with the head on the front of the Jersey, some well-defined features about the Jersey’s include a light tan to a dark brown coat, with a white band around the nose, and more times than not a dark switch on the tail. Jerseys are highly distinctive, for the people that do know what Jerseys are and what they look like can recognize them almost instantaneously. Jerseys are a close second to the widely known breed of the Holsteins, who sport black and white spots instead of the more attractive tan.
Another feature that’s quite overlooked on the Jersey’s would be their dark brown, almost near black, eyes. In addition to their dark eyes, they also can claim the fact that they have extremely long eyelashes, with the emphasis on long. These eyelashes help protect the abnormality large eyes from dust and debris, as they cannot defend their eyes any other way. Speaking of eyes, Jersey’s eyes are so big, they have a full 360 panoramic vision (Dairy Moos).
Functions and Fun Facts
Amazingly, even though the average Jersey cow drinks in-between thirty and fifty gallons of water a day, they still can produce about eight gallons of milk a day (Dairy Moos). That eight gallons of milk may be used for ice cream, cream cheese, or just plain milk, it’s all up to the creamery when they receive the milk that’s shipped from the farm. Jersey’s milk is more specifically made for ice cream and butter, since it has more of a creamy property It’s pretty crazy how that’s enough water to sustain a half ton animal that produces eight gallons of milk. After all, 40 gallons is only one bathtub full, which you’d think is hardly enough to support all the cows jaw movements!
That’s right, a Jersey moves their jaw about 40,000 times just in one day, which averages out to about 50 times a minute (Dairy Moos). Cows have what is known as “cud.” Cud is regurgitated grass, hay, or whatever the cow ate that day that has already been chewed up and made it to the first section in the stomach, so basically one level less of puke. Yep, they chew that stuff all day! Except when they’re eating new food that will later be spit back up by the rumen.
The Stomach
The what? The rumen. Moving down to the stomach of a Jersey, the rumen is the first compartment in the four parts of the cow’s stomach. Contrary to popular belief, a cow doesn’t have four stomachs, it has four compartments, each which all have their special purpose. In order, it goes rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum. The one that’s most like the human stomach would be the abomasum because that’s what breaks down the food and all the nutrients are absorbed by the intestines. Last summer, select Minnesotans were given the opportunity to interact with a cow that had a “window,” which is a hole that’s cut into the side of their stomach that allows people to feel the inside. Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt the cow, in fact, they just think they have cud to chew so they automatically start chewing! Pretty funny thing to watch actually.
The Udder
In the lower and underneath area of the Jersey, we’re now onto the legenDAIRY udder. The biggest area of a Jersey that is judged would without a doubt be the udder. The udder accounts for approximately 40 percent of the “scorecard” that judges use in professional dairy shows. Any person on the street would tell you that the udder is the most important part of the cow. Because the udder gives the milk not only to humans but also to the baby calves before they are weaned away from the mother and put into calf hunts.
People in the showing industry will go great lengths to show off the udder of their Jersey and highlight the udder if that’s the Jersey’s main strength. Some dairies have been known to put lotion, makeup, and baby powder on the Jersey’s udder to magnify the udder and hide the flaws that may be present. But in order to make the cow’s udder appear big, it must be big to begin with. Therefore the showman might interfere with their Jersey’s personal milking schedule. Typically, cows are milked every 12 hours, so twice a day.
Unfortunately, with all the glands and fluids in the udder, it makes the udder quite vulnerable to a disease known as mastitis. Mastitis is, in complex terms, “the inflammation of the mammary gland and udder tissue,” (AHDB). Mastitis is in simple terms bacteria growth in the milk ducts. The milk that is produced by a cow that has mastitis, if it produces any at all, is untreatable and humans are unable to drink it, leaving a deficit for the dairy farmers. Mastitis is contagious and could spread easily to other cows, so that’s why it’s taken very seriously. Cows are given antibiotics to treat mastitis and require extra labor in order to keep the disease controlled to keep the dairy at the most minimum loss as possible.
Conclusion
All in all, Jerseys are quite the interesting breed of cow. Jerseys have been known to be the friendliest breed of dairy cows, and also the smallest. Jerseys have a distinctive white band around their nose and are usually a tannish color for a coat. Jerseys are also well credited for their creamy milk, which is used for ice cream and butter. Not just Jerseys, but all cows have four compartments in their stomach, with each compartment serving its own special purpose. The udder is the most important part of the Jersey, and it accounts for 40% of the Jersey’s scorecard when it’s being judged. Mastitis is an infection of the udder, which is highly contagious, but highly preventable as well. Next time you’re at the Minnesota State Fair, or even at your local county fair, don’t forget to sneak a peek at your new favorite breed of dairy cattle. They’ll look at you with their big brown eyes and long eyelashes and you won’t be able to look away! We at the Topline can guarantee you’ll fall just as head over heels in the love with them as we did.
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