Rich milk cattle breeds

Some breeds give milk with much more butterfat and protein than the average. The Jersey and Guernsey, from the Channel Islands, are the best known, and their milk is prized for butter, cream and cheese. In India, the Sahiwal, Gir, Red Sindhi and Tharparkar give rich milk for ghee, curd and sweets, and the yak and mithun of the Himalaya give milk richer still. Rich milk usually comes in smaller amounts than from a high-yield Holstein, so these breeds are valued for quality more than for volume.

The Channel Island breeds

The Jersey and Guernsey come from neighbouring islands in the English Channel and were kept apart from mainland cattle for centuries. Jersey milk averages close to five per cent butterfat, against around four per cent or less for the Holstein, and has a deep cream colour. Guernsey milk is golden from the carotene it carries. Both breeds spread worldwide in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and the Jersey is now the second most common dairy breed in many countries.

Ghee country

In India, milk is turned into curd, butter, ghee and sweets, and rich milk is valued for all of them. The milking zebu, Sahiwal, Gir, Red Sindhi and Tharparkar, give less milk than a crossbred cow but with higher fat. Ghee from the milk of native breeds is sold at a premium, and some households and gaushalas make it by the slow traditional bilona method, churning curd rather than cream.

The A2 question

Milk proteins differ between breeds. Most Indian zebu, and breeds such as the Guernsey, carry mainly the A2 form of beta-casein, while many European dairy herds carry a mix of A1 and A2. Some producers market milk from A2 cows as A2 milk. Claims made for it are debated, and the scientific evidence is still being studied. Here the difference is described as a matter of milk protein type only.

Yak and mithun milk

Yak milk is richer in fat than cow's milk and is used for butter, butter tea and hard cheese in the Himalaya and Tibet. The milk of the mithun is also rich, though mithun are rarely milked. Herders churn yak milk into butter in wooden churns, and the buttermilk left over is boiled and pressed into cheese, so little is wasted. Small amounts of these milks feed whole highland households through the year.

Worth knowing

Jersey: Small island cow with milk close to five per cent butterfat
Guernsey: Island breed with golden, rich milk
Sahiwal: Indian dairy zebu valued for rich milk and ghee
Gir: Gujarat milking zebu, prized for milk and ghee
Red Sindhi: Dairy zebu of Sindh with rich milk
Tharparkar: Desert zebu with good milk on poor feed
Domestic yak: Highland milk for butter tea and chhurpi

Good to know

Rich-milk breeds suit butter, ghee and cheese making on the farm.
Feed quality affects butterfat; good forage keeps milk fat high.

Sources and further reading

About this page

Original text by the EveryCow desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Customs are described as tradition, not as advice. If we have something wrong, tell us.

Rich milk on EveryCow

The breeds written up so far, best known first.

Rich milk breeds