What animals are Jerseys Herefords and Shorthorns?

Answer 1

These are all well-known, popular breeds of cattle. The Jersey is a sweet-natured attractive animal used for milk production. Jerseys are fawn-coloured often with a bit of black on their heads and have dark eyes, nose, hooves, and switch. They are small dairy cattle, weighing about 1000 lbs at the most. Jerseys have a higher butterfat content in their milk than the more well-known Holsteins do, and are also full of attitude like any sassy, attractive-looking cow would. Jersey bulls are nasty critters though, the opposite of Jersey cows. Because of the increased selection of femininity in Jersey cows, Jersey bulls are very masculine and act as such, challenging and charging anything that moves that threatens their herd, from people on foot to ATVs and trucks. Jerseys are second-most common dairy breed to be used in commercial dairy operations.

The Hereford breed is a well-known beef breed, and was very popular before the "fabulous" Angus breed took over a few decades ago. They were in fact one of the earliest breeds to be imported to the United States in the early 1800s. Herefords are an unmistakable animal, with a white face and mane, white stockings on the legs, white on the tail switch and white in the underbelly with a deep red to light brown coat. Two types of Herefords exist today: Herefords and Polled Herefords, also classified as just plain-ol' Herefords. Horned Herefords are commonly found to have horns pointing downwards by the manupulation of horn-weights on the horns over time so they are less of a danger to the prodcer, and to add to the "aesthetics" of the breed of the traditional Herefords. They are very adaptable, found on ranges from desert conditions to mountainous terrain, as well as on farms where forage is abundant, from Canada all the way south to Uruguay. Though they are not as good milkers as Angus and Shorthorn, they fatten easily on roughage consisting of just grass-hay and native or tame pasture, and the feeder calves also fatten well and grow quickly in the feedlots. Cows were also known to be good mothers that were able to spit a calf out no problem, with them being range cows and not pampered poodles. The Hereford breed is sometimes considered large, although when put into perspective, it is large because it's bone structure is not so fine as other bigger breeds of cattle such as the Belgian Blue. Cows grow to be as small as 1000 lbs or as big as 1600 lbs. Bulls matured around 2000 to 2600 lbs. Its thick hide enable it to be so adaptive that hot temperatures bother it less than thinner-hided cattle such as Holsteins or Angus. Cold temperatures doesn't bother this breed as much either because of its ability to grow a thick winter coat that slicks off nicely in the summer time. A typical British breed, it matures early, and when selected for, shows great growth potential for feedlot and for newborn calves that hit the ground, especially in calves crossed with Hereford. Hereford crossbreds are the best type of cattle in the beef industry, both for maternal characteristics and for the feedlot. The most popular cross are the Black Baldies, or Hereford-Angus crosses. Herefords were also known for their not-so-good traits, such as prolapses, sunburned udders, pink eye and cancer eye. However, these nasty traits were and are easily weeded out with a good culling program. And lastly, but not the least, Herefords are the most docile beef breed that can ever be found. They can be so docile that most producers like to measure docility on the scale of how-many-cups-of-coffee-it-takes-for-her-to-decide-to-leave-the-chute criteria of 1 to utter coffee-induced jitteryness.

The Shorthorn is broken into two different breeds: Shorthorns and Milking Shorthorns. Milking Shorthorns are good milkers, though much less popular than the more popular dairy breeds including Holstein, Jersey, Brown Swiss, Ayrshire and Guernsey. They are very hardy, much like their beefier Shorthorn kin. The beef Shorthorns are also quite hardy and adaptable, found in almost every environment they are able to thrive in, from the hot summers of Australia to the cold northern winters of Canada and almost everywhere in between. Shorthorns can be found in varying coat colours, from white to deep red to patchy roan to roany white to all-around roan. They are quite attractive, both with their coat colours and their sleekness. Shorthorns are traditionally horned much like the Herefords, but selection has been made to produce Polled Shorthorns, much like the Hereford breed. They are also known for their ability to be very docile, as well as great in minimal management-type environments where they are just on grass and/or hay. Shorthorns are great mothers, good milkers, and possess great carcass merits that rivals that of the Angus breed. Shorthorns are able to flesh easy, and mature early, typical of a British breed like Herefords and Angus. Cows and bulls mature at about the same weight as Herefords do, though perhaps slightly heavier, more similar to Angus: Cows --> 1100 to 1600 lbs; Bulls ---> 2200 to 2700 lbs. Shorthorns are a basis for several breeds that have been founded almost half a century ago, including Murray Grey (Angus-Shorthorn cross), Beefmaster (1/2 Brahman, 1/4 Shorthorn and 1/4 Hereford), Santa Gertrudis (5/8 Shorthorn and 3/8 Brahman), Ranger (Hereford, Milking Shorthorn, Shorthorn, Red Angus, Beefmaster, Scotch Highland and Brahman), and Luing (Shorthorn and Red Angus). Shorthorns themselves also produce crossbred calves when crossed with such breeds as Hereford, Simmental, Limousin, Brahman, Charolais, and many others. Today, American Shorthorns are only well known among the show-ring, and seem to only be bred for the show ring, as I have heard there are very few real Shorthorn breeders left in the U.S. that breed shorthorns for beef and range environment instead of creating a boxy, post-legged breed intended to be spiffed up for the showring. The Canadian Shorthorns are more common up here in Canada, and are considered a better breed than the modern American shorties, and possess qualities that make them the kind of breed I made them out to be above. Australia is known for excellent quality Shorthorns as well that rivals the Canadian-made breed.