A small, brown breed of dairy cattle, the Jersey is renowned for the high butterfat content of its milk, as well as a genial disposition.
As its name implies, the Jersey was bred on the English Channel island of Jersey. It apparently descended from cattle stock brought over from nearby Normandy, and was first recorded as a separate breed around 1700.
With an average weight of 900 pounds, the Jersey cow is small, but by some measures it produces more pounds of milk per pound of body weight than any other breed. Bulls are also small by standards of domestic cattle, ranging around 1,500 pounds, but can be surprisingly aggressive.
