Cattle breeds of Europe
Holstein Friesian, Jersey, Angus, Hereford, Charolais, Simmental, Highland and Chianina, and hundreds of local breeds. 66 breeds on EveryCow so far.
Cattle towns, fairs and pastures
Galloway 2Hortobágy National Park 2Tyrol 2Yorkshire 2Abondance 1Albany 1Aosta 1Aosta Valley 1Aquitaine 1Arezzo 1Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 1Ayrshire 1Bács-Kiskun 1Baixa Limia-Serra do Xurés 1Balearic Islands 1Basse-Normandie 1Bavaria 1Beaufortain 1Beremytske Nature Park 1Bernese Oberland 1Brittany 1Bruche valley 1Bruneck 1Bünzen 1Campanarios de Azaba 1Cantal 1Charolles 1County Donegal 1County Down 1County Kerry 1
Products of the region
Isigny butter (Normandy cultured butter)Clotted creamButtermilkSkyrFilmjölkViiliCrème fraîcheSmetanaQuarkRyazhenka
Days
St Anthony's Day and the blessing of animalsImbolc and St Brigid's DayBeltane and the cattle firesFête des GardiansSt Wendelin's DaySamhain and the coming down of the herdsMartinmasSt Modestos's Day
Countries
🇦🇱 Albania 1🇦🇹 Austria 8🇧🇪 Belgium 3🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1🇭🇷 Croatia 3🇨🇿 Czech Republic 2🇪🇪 Estonia 1🇫🇮 Finland 1🇫🇷 France 12🇩🇪 Germany 12🇭🇺 Hungary 4🇮🇸 Iceland 1🇮🇪 Ireland 5🇮🇹 Italy 10🇽🇰 Kosovo 1🇱🇻 Latvia 2🇱🇹 Lithuania 2🇲🇪 Montenegro 1🇳🇱 Netherlands 7🇳🇴 Norway 1🇵🇱 Poland 3🇵🇹 Portugal 3🇷🇴 Romania 1🇷🇺 Russia 4🇷🇸 Serbia 2🇸🇮 Slovenia 1🇪🇸 Spain 5🇸🇪 Sweden 5🇨🇭 Switzerland 6🇺🇦 Ukraine 2🇬🇧 United Kingdom 12
🇵🇱 Poland and 5 moreAurochs
The wild ancestor of all domestic cattle, extinct since 1627Wild · Long-horned
🇳🇱 Netherlands and 5 moreTauros
A breeding-back project building hardy cattle to stand in for the extinct aurochsWild · Grazing · Cold-hardy
🇳🇱 Netherlands and 3 moreHolstein Friesian
A black and white dairy breed kept worldwide, with red and white lines tooTaurine · Dairy
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreHereford
A red and white beef breed from Herefordshire, England, known for its white face and hardiness.Taurine · Beef · Docile
🇨🇭 Switzerland and 5 moreSimmental
A large dual-purpose breed from the Swiss Simme valley, red and white with strong growth rates.Taurine · Dual-purpose · Docile
🇫🇷 France and 3 moreCharolaisCharolaise
A large French taurine beef breed from eastern France, white to cream with pink noses and curved horns.Taurine · Beef · Docile
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreAyrshire
Red-and-white dairy cattle from south-west Scotland, hardy, long-lived and easy calversTaurine · Dairy · Easy calving
🇧🇪 Belgium and 3 moreBelgian BlueBlanc-Bleu Belge / Belgisch Witblauw
A muscular beef breed from Belgium known for its blue-grey coat and double-muscling gene.Taurine · Beef · Docile
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreHeck
A German type bred in the 1920s to recreate the extinct aurochsTaurine · Grazing · Cold-hardy
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreShorthorn
A historic British breed from north-east England, kept for milk and meat with red, white or roan coats.Taurine · Dual-purpose · Docile
🇨🇭 Switzerland and 5 moreBraunvieh
A large Alpine brown dairy breed from Switzerland, known for its strength and high milk yield.Taurine · Dairy · Rich milk
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreGalloway
A polled black beef breed from south-west Scotland with a thick double coatTaurine · Beef · Cold-hardy
🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreChianina
A massive white Italian breed known for beef production and historic draught work in Tuscany.Taurine · Beef · Heat-tolerant
🇭🇺 HungaryHungarian GreyMagyar Szürke
A tall, long-horned Podolic breed from the Hungarian plains, kept for beef and draught work.Taurine · Beef · Marbled beef
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreDanish RedRød Dansk Malkerace
A red Danish dairy breed, with a modern line and a 1970 lineTaurine · Dairy · Rich milk
🇺🇸 United StatesGuernsey
A fawn dairy breed from Guernsey, its milk tinted gold by beta-caroteneTaurine · Dairy · Docile
🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreDexter
A small Irish dual-purpose breed, usually black or red, kept for milk and beef on poor land.Taurine · Dual-purpose · Thrifty foragers
🇦🇹 Austria and 1 morePinzgauer
Chestnut Austrian cattle with a broad white stripe along the back and bellyTaurine · Triple-purpose
🇫🇷 France and 2 moreBlonde d'Aquitaine
A big wheat-coated beef breed from south-west France, born of three old draught linesTaurine · Beef
🇫🇷 France and 2 moreNormande
A large red-pied French dual-purpose breed, kept for rich milk and marbled beefTaurine · Dual-purpose · Rich milk
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 morePiedmontesePiemontese
A white Italian beef breed known for double muscling and premium lean meat.Taurine · Beef · Marbled beef
🇫🇷 France and 2 moreMontbéliarde
A red and white dairy breed from eastern France, prized for cheesemaking milk.Taurine · Dairy · Rich milk
🇩🇪 Germany and 4 moreGerman Black Pied
A dairy breed of the North Sea coast, black and white, smaller than the HolsteinTaurine · Dairy · Long-lived
🇱🇻 LatviaLatvian Brown
A red dairy breed from Latvia, developed from Angeln stock and once numbering over a million head.Taurine · Dairy · Docile
🇭🇷 Croatia and 5 moreBuša
A little mountain cow of the Balkans with short horns, kept for milk, meat and workTaurine · Triple-purpose · Disease-resistant
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreBelted Galloway
A polled Scottish beef breed with a distinctive white belt around its black body.Taurine · Beef · Cold-hardy
🇸🇪 SwedenSwedish Red-and-WhiteSvensk röd och vit boskap
A red and white Swedish milk breed with horns on cows and bulls alikeTaurine · Dairy
🇫🇷 FranceSalersrace de Salers
A large dual-purpose breed from the Cantal mountains of France, red or black with lyre-shaped horns.Taurine · Dual-purpose · Docile
🇦🇹 Austria and 5 moreFleckvieh
A large Central European dual-purpose breed, red and white pied or solid red, kept for milk and beef.Composite · Dual-purpose · Docile
🇫🇷 France and 2 moreAbondance
A red and white dairy breed from the French Alps, kept for milk and mountain grazing.Taurine · Dairy · Heat-tolerant
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 2 moreUkrainian GreyСіра українська порода
An ancient grey Podolian breed from Ukraine, kept for draught work and meat.Taurine · Beef · Drought-hardy
🇳🇱 Netherlands and 1 moreLakenvelder
A small Dutch dual-purpose breed with a black or red coat and a broad white belt around the middle.Taurine · Dual-purpose · Docile
🇸🇪 SwedenFjällSvensk fjällras
A polled, mostly white dairy cow from the Swedish mountains, hardy on thin grazing.Taurine · Dairy · Polled
🇭🇷 Croatia and 1 moreBoškarin
A gray dual-purpose breed from the Istrian peninsula, kept for milk and gourmet beef.Taurine · Dual-purpose · Docile
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreEnglish Longhorn
A large horned beef breed from northern England, marked by a white line along the spineTaurine · Beef · Long-horned
🇨🇭 SwitzerlandHérens
A small black or red Swiss alpine breed kept for cow fighting and mountain grazing.Taurine · Sport · Quick and strong
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreTarentaise
A French alpine breed from the Tarentaise valley, kept for cheese and for crossingTaurine · Dairy · Docile
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreMarchigiana
A large white or grey Italian beef breed from the Marche, once worked as an oxTaurine · Beef
🇮🇸 IcelandIcelandicíslenskur nautgripur
A small, mostly polled dairy breed isolated in Iceland for a thousand yearsTaurine · Dairy · Polled
🇮🇹 ItalyMaremmana
A big grey Podolic beef breed from the old marshes of the Maremma in central ItalyTaurine · Beef · Thrifty foragers
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreMaine-AnjouRouge des Prés
A red and white French beef breed from the Maine country, once a milk and meat animalTaurine · Beef
🇵🇱 PolandPolish RedPolska czerwona
A red Polish breed kept for both milk and beefTaurine · Dual-purpose
🇵🇹 Portugal and 1 moreCachena
A small Iberian breed from northern Portugal and Galicia, kept for beef and formerly for draught work.Taurine · Beef · Docile
🇪🇸 SpainMenorquina
A red, hornless dairy breed from the Spanish island of Menorca, prized for Mahón cheese production.Taurine · Dairy · Disease-resistant
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreMurnau-Werdenfels
A long-lived brown dairy breed of the Bavarian uplands, milk and beefTaurine · Dairy · Long-lived
🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreKerryBó Chiarraí
A rare black dairy breed from southwest Ireland, one of Europe's oldest milk cattleTaurine · Dairy · Thrifty foragers
🇫🇷 FranceVosgienne
A medium-sized French breed from the Vosges mountains, kept for milk and meatTaurine · Dual-purpose · Cold-hardy
🇮🇹 Italy and 3 morePustertaler SprinzenPustertaler Schecken
Rare colour-sided Alpine cattle from South Tyrol: white with brown or black flank patchesTaurine · Dual-purpose
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Maremmana: Zyance, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Menorquina: Discasto, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Belted Galloway: Jamain, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cachena: Rosino, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Buša: P.Cikovac, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tarentaise: BlackSlash73, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Normande: Tsaag Valren, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Maine-Anjou: The original uploader was Cyrille BERNIZET at French Wikipedia ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- German Black Pied: WytzeNauta, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Heck: 4028mdk09, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Polish Red: myself ( User:Piotrus ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Braunvieh: 4028mdk09, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hereford: Hayden Soloviev, CC BY 4.0, source
- Pinzgauer: Wald1siedel, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lakenvelder: Dickelbers, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Montbéliarde: Abujoy, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Danish Red: Malene Thyssen, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Vosgienne: Eponimm, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Abondance: Walpole, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Guernsey: Man vyi, Public domain, source
- Icelandic: Christian Bickel (user Fingalo ), CC BY-SA 2.0 de, source
- Aurochs: Jaap Rouwenhorst (photograph) DFoidl (GIMP modifications), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Murnau-Werdenfels: Pippo-b, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Piedmontese: Aleks, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ukrainian Grey: Марія Гарбар, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Latvian Brown: Ingrīda Briede, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chianina: Monica, CC BY 2.0, source
- Ayrshire: Biggle, Jacob., Public domain, source
- Marchigiana: Nicola Romani, CC BY-SA 2.5 it, source
- Simmental: Richard Bartz, Munich Makro Freak, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Kerry: Pedroserafin, CC BY 2.5, source
- Hérens: Joe Byrne, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Blonde d'Aquitaine: Myrabella, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hungarian Grey: The original uploader was Faludi at Hungarian Wikipedia ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Swedish Red-and-White: Tjalve77, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pajuna: DFoidl, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- English Longhorn: Dave, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Fleckvieh: Josef Moser, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Dexter: Hayden Soloviev, CC BY 4.0, source
- Salers: B.navez, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Holstein Friesian: Vista Alegre baserria, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Boškarin: Orlovic, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fjäll: Yvonne Zimmermann, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
- Charolais: Forum concoursvaches.fr, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Galloway: GerardM, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Belgian Blue: Stoolhog, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shorthorn: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.0, source