🐄 Cow Breeds - Indigenous, Exotic and Crossbred Cattle of India

Important Cattle Breeds

• Breed: A group of animals / birds having the similar general body shape, colour, structure and characters which produced offspring with same characters. Breeds are the result of selective breeding over many generations to fix desirable traits.
• Species: A group of individuals which have certain common characteristics that distinguish them from other groups of individuals. Within a species the individuals are fertile when mated, in different species they are not. This fertility test is the key distinction between a breed and a species.
• A species includes many breeds.

Domain	Eukaryota
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Mammalia
Order	Artiodactyla
Family	Bovidae
Genus	Bos

• Cattle Breeds are of two types:
  • Indigenous (Bos indicus) -- Native Indian breeds, characterised by a prominent hump, long ears, and dewlap. They are well adapted to tropical climates and have higher disease resistance.
  • Exotic (Bos taurus) -- Foreign breeds originating from Europe and other temperate regions. They are typically humpless, with higher milk yields but lower heat tolerance.

Indigenous Cow	Exotic Cow
The hump is an exclusive characteristic of the Indian Desi bulls and cows.	They do not have hump
The Indigenous Cattle have a high heat-resistance	They do not have heat-resistance
Longer life	Comparatively shorter
Less maintenance	High maintenance cost
Desi breeds have a higher immunity to diseases	Comparatively less
Body length and size is medium to small	Size and length is quite large
Rounded prominent forehead	Flat Forehead
Well-developed horn	Short horn
Under is small	Comparatively larger

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Important Terms

• Cattle: This includes Cow and Bulls.
• Bovine: This is pertaining to Cattle, Buffalo, Mithun and Yak. The term bovine is broader than cattle and includes all members of the subfamily Bovinae.
• Bull: The uncastrated sexually, matured male animal. It is used for mating.
• Bullock/Steer: A castrated bull is known as bullock. Bullocks are primarily used for draught purposes such as ploughing and carting.
• Calving: The act of parturition in cattle. This is the term used specifically for the birth process in cows and buffaloes.
• Calf: Young animal either male or female usually than 1 year old.
• Veal Calves: calves fed for early slaughter, usually less than 3 months old. Veal is tender, pale meat that is considered a delicacy in many cuisines.
• Bull Calf: A male calf under one year of age.
• Heifer: A female cow that has not yet calved. (Usually less than 18-24 months of age). A heifer becomes a cow only after her first calving.
• Cow: It is a female of bovine species that has calved at least once.
• Lactation: The period during which a cow produces milk after calving. A standard lactation period is 305 days (~10 months). Milk yield figures quoted "per lactation" refer to the total milk produced in this period.
• First Calving Age: The age at which a cow delivers her first calf. A shorter first calving age means the cow enters productive life earlier, which is economically desirable.
• Calving Interval: The time gap between two consecutive calvings. A shorter calving interval (ideally 12–13 months) means more calves and more lactations over the cow's productive life. Longer intervals reduce lifetime productivity.
• Dry Period: The non-lactating rest period before the next calving, usually 60 days. This is essential for the udder to recover and for the cow to build body reserves for the next lactation.
• Grading Up: A breeding strategy where non-descript or low-yielding cows are mated with high-quality bulls (indigenous or exotic) over successive generations to gradually improve the herd quality without purebred replacement.

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Indigenous Cattle: Bos indicus

• Indigenous Breeds are classified under three groups based on utility / purpose. These are milch breeds (for milk), dual-purpose breeds (for both milk and draught), and draught breeds (primarily for work).

Milch Breeds	Dual-purpose Breeds	Draught Breeds
Cows are high yielders, varies from 1500 to 2500 litres per lactation, bullocks are of poor quality.	Animals have characteristics intermediate between Milch and Draught breeds, milk yield varies from 1200 to 1500 liters per lactation.	Bullocks are excellent draught animals, while cows are poor milkers.
1. Sahiwal	1. Haryana	1. Hallikar
2. Gir	2. Mewati	2. Nagori
3. Red Sindhi	3. Tharparkar	3. Amrutmahal
	4. Kankrej	4. Malvi
	5. Rathi	5. Bargur
	6. Badri	6. Umblachery
	7. Dangi	7. Pulikulam
	8. Deoni	8. Nimari
	9. Nellore	9. Bachur
	10. Gaolao	10. Alambadi
	11. Ongole	11. Siri
		12. Purnea
		13. Ponwar
		14. Kangayam
		15. Khillari
		16. Krishna Valley

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Milch Breeds

Sahiwal

• Origin: Montgomery (Pakistan)
• Colour: Red, Pale red & dark brown spaced with white.
• Deep body, loose skin (hence the name lola), short legs, stumpy horns, broad head & lethargic. The loose skin and lethargic temperament are adaptations to hot climates, allowing better heat dissipation.
• One of the best dairy breeds in India.
• Sweetest milk. Sahiwal milk has a naturally sweet taste due to its unique composition, making it highly preferred by consumers.
• Highest milk producing indigenous cow breed. This makes Sahiwal the top choice among indigenous milch breeds for dairy farming.
• Milk yield: 1400–2500 kg/lactation (average ~1500 kg). To put this in context: exotic Holstein Friesian yields 6,000–7,000 kg/lactation, but Sahiwal thrives in India's tropical heat where HF would require intensive management and still underperform. Among all indigenous breeds, no other comes close to Sahiwal's yield.