Aulie-Ata
A dairy breed from Kazakhstan, made from native stock and Dutch Black Pied
Aulie-Ata is a dairy breed raised in Kazakhstan. Its name comes from Aulie-Ata, the town called Taraz today, where Kazakh cows were mated with Dutch Black Pied bulls; the breed was recognised in 1950 and cows give about 3,735 kg of milk in a lactation.
- Kept for milk: cows average 3,735 kg in one lactation
- Made from native Kazakh stock crossed with the Dutch Black Pied
- Selection work was planned from 1935; the breed was recognised in 1950
- Named after Aulie-Ata, the town now called Taraz in Kazakhstan
What do Aulie-Ata cattle look like?
Aulie-Ata is a dairy breed from Kazakhstan, kept for milk. Two older populations lie behind it: the cattle Kazakh keepers already had, and the Dutch Black Pied, brought in for its milking qualities. Cows of the breed give about 3,735 kg of milk in one lactation. The name is borrowed from Aulie-Ata, the town where the work was done, since renamed Taraz. Selection was organised from 1935, and the breed was accepted in 1950. It took shape across the late 1800s and early 1900s, and its milk yield is the figure most often quoted for it.
Where does the Aulie-Ata come from?
The breed belongs to Kazakhstan, and its name comes from Aulie-Ata, a town known today as Taraz. Breeders there started in the last years of the nineteenth century and kept going into the early twentieth, putting native cows to Dutch Black Pied bulls. From 1935 the work followed a plan rather than chance. In 1950 the animals were recognised as a breed in their own right. Milk was the aim throughout.
How the Aulie-Ata is bred and kept
Making the Aulie-Ata took two ingredients. On one side were the cattle that Kazakh families were already milking; on the other, the Dutch Black Pied, a dairy strain brought in from abroad. The crossing was followed by years of choosing which animals to keep. That choosing became a formal programme in 1935 and produced a settled type, accepted in 1950. The breed is a milking animal, so selection centred on yield: cows give roughly 3,735 kg over a lactation.
Aulie-Ata, drawn
What the Aulie-Ata is kept for
The Aulie-Ata is a milking breed. A cow averages 3,735 kg of milk in one lactation, and that figure is the measure by which the breed is usually described. It was created for the dairy herd rather than for the yoke or the meat trade. Its milk is the reason the breed exists, and the reason breeders in Kazakhstan went on selecting for yield through the middle of the twentieth century.
Who keeps the Aulie-Ata
Kazakh stock keepers are the people behind the breed. The cattle they milked supplied one half of the parentage, and their herds were the base on which the new dairy type was built. Later work on the breed was organised rather than left to individual families, but the local cattle and the local knowledge came first. The animals carry the name of the place where those herders and breeders lived and worked.
At a glance: where it belongs
Peoples
Numbers, conservation and the herd book
The production figure usually quoted for the Aulie-Ata is 3,735 kg of milk from a cow in a single lactation. It is given as an average. The breed was recognised in 1950, after selection that had been running on a planned basis since 1935. Its parent stocks are the native cattle of Kazakhstan and the Dutch Black Pied, and it carries the name of the town where the work was done, Aulie-Ata, now Taraz.
Questions people ask about Aulie-Ata
Where does the Aulie-Ata come from?
It comes from Kazakhstan, and its name is taken from Aulie-Ata, the town that later became Taraz. The cattle kept by local herders there were crossed with Dutch Black Pied stock, and the resulting breed was recognised in 1950.
What is the Aulie-Ata kept for?
Milk. It is a dairy breed, and a cow gives about 3,735 kg in a lactation on average. Breeding has aimed at milk production since the selection programme of 1935, and the breed was formally accepted in 1950.
How was the breed created?
By crossing and then selecting. The native cattle of Kazakhstan were mated with the Dutch Black Pied, a dairy breed, and the best of the offspring were kept. From 1935 this was done to a plan, and a settled breed emerged by 1950.
How much milk does a cow give?
On average, a cow of the breed yields 3,735 kg of milk in one lactation. Selection since 1935 has been aimed at milk, and the breed was accepted in 1950.
Good reading and sources
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Aulie-Ata cattle", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). EveryCow rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. Sizes, colours and customs differ from one herd, valley or breeder to the next. Folk beliefs are described as tradition, never as advice. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-16.
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