Draught Cattle breeds : Kangayam, Hallikar, Jersey

Draught breeds : These breeds are exclusively meant for pulling carts, ploughing fields etc. They are well-built and the skin is well stretched. The bulls are used for draught works. The cows are poor milkers. Important Indian draught breeds are Amrithamahal, Kangayam, Malvi, Hallikar etc.

1. Kangayam (Kanganad, Kongu) :-

 Origin and distribution : It originated from Kangayam divisions of Dharapuram taluk of Coimbatore district in Tamilnadu. The breed is also found in Udumalapet, Palladam, Pollachi and in other parts of South India.

Distinguishing characters : The cattle of this breed are of moderate size and the colour of the body is white or grey with black markings. The horns are strong and are curved upwards and outwards. The head is short with prominent forehead. Neck is shorter and thick and the ears are smaller and pointed. They have moderate sized hump, wide muzzle, strong limbs, fine skin and a fine tail. The udder is medium sized with small teats. The bulls are excellent type for hard work.

Production : The cows are poor milkers, yielding about 666 kg per lactation.

2. Hallikar

Origin and distribution : Commonly found in the South Indian States, predominantly in Karnataka. Hassan and Tumkur regions of Karnataka are the home places of this breed.

Distinguising characters : Body is dark grey in colour, some times almost black. The animals are of medium size. The head is usually long with a bulging forehead and a prominent furrow in the middle. The face is long with small ears. The long horns emerge out, slant backwards in a graceful sweep and then curve upwards to terminate in a sharp point. The hump is moderately developed. The udder is medium sized with small teats. The Hallikar bullocks are draught breeds. They are used for heavy ploughing, transport and other field works.

Production : The cows are poor milkers.

Exotic breeds of cattle : Many milk yeilding breeds of cattle are imported and reared in India. The exotic breeds are successfully crossed with indigenous breeds to obtain cross breeds, which have sufficient desirable characters. European breeds are the first kind of exotic breeds introduced in India about 90 years back. Important ones are short horns Ayreshire, Jersey, Brown swiss, Holstein Friesean, Guernsy and Red Dane.

Jersey : Jersey is one of the oldest dairy breed. It originated from Jersey island adaptable to wide range of climatic conditions and heat. The colour of the breed ranges from white to dark grey, and it is broken and found as patches. Jerseys are nervous and sensitive animals. Jerseys have good ud-ders with large teats. The lactational yield is 4,950 kg with milk fat 5% . The milk has a characteristic yellow colour because of high carotene content. The bulls are vicious than other breed. Cross breeding of Jersey and indig-enous Sindhi and Hariyana produced excellent cross breeds with more than 2000 kg of milk yield per lactation period.