The Alderney is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

of dairy cattle. It originated in, and is named for, the island of

Alderney Alderney (; french: Aurigny ; Auregnais: ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-largest ...

in the Channel Islands. It was one of three breeds of Channel Island cattle, the others being the Jersey and the

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries "Alderney" was a general term for cattle from the archipelago; many were exported to mainland Britain under this name, regardless of which of the islands they came from.

History

Cattle are thought to have been brought to the Channel Islands during the tenth and eleventh centuries, possibly from about AD 960 when Richard I of Normandy is believed to have sent monks from Mont-Saint-Michel to help the islanders to defend themselves against attacks by pirates. These monks are thought to have brought with them cattle of Norman or

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

type, perhaps similar to the modern

Froment du Léon The Froment du Léon is an endangered French breed of dairy cattle from the coastal region of northern Brittany, in the north-west of France. It is named for the historic Viscounty of Léon, in the départements of Côtes-d'Armor and Finistère ...

of Brittany; these were used principally as

draught animals A working animal is an animal, usually domesticated, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks instead of being slaughtered to harvest animal products. Some are used for their physical strength (e.g. oxen and draft horses) or for t ...

, but also as dairy cattle. Later, when horses replaced oxen for draught work, the cattle began to be selected for milk alone. From the seventeenth century or from no later than 1724, cattle from the Channel Islands began to be exported in considerable numbers to mainland Britain. Regardless of which island they came from, these were invariably known as "Alderneys"; this may have been because Alderney, lying to the north of the other main islands, would have been the last port of call before the Channel crossing. In the mid-1770s some 900 cattle were being shipped to Britain each year under the Alderney name, about two thirds of them from the island of Jersey. The Alderney contributed to the development of a number of British breeds, principally the

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

and the South Devon. It may also have influenced the Dairy Shorthorn (through its predecessor the Holderness), the Irish Kerry and the

Suffolk Dun The Red Poll is a dual-purpose breed of cattle developed in England in the latter half of the 19th century. The Red Poll is a cross of the Norfolk Red beef cattle and Suffolk Dun dairy cattle breeds. Description and uses The cattle are red, pre ...

. During the Second World War a small number of Alderneys were moved to

, where they were absorbed into the

breed.

Characteristics

The Alderney was small; its conformation was typical of a dairy breed, with a light bone structure and a somewhat deer-like appearance. The colour of the coat was variable, ranging through shades of dun, fawn, light red and yellow.

Use

The cattle of the Channel Islands were originally used principally as

; later, when horses replaced oxen for draught work, the cattle were reared for milk alone. The milk was rich in fat, and suitable for butter-making. A description from 1909 says of it "The Alderney ranks as the best butter cow in the world, whilst its abundant yield of milk, rich in cream, is phenomenal"; by 1939 the same sentence had been altered to read "The Jersey ...".

References

{{reflist, refs= Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016)
''Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding''
(sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. {{ISBN, 9781780647944. Marleen Felius (1995)
''Cattle Breeds: An Encyclopedia''
Doetinchem, Netherlands: Misset. {{ISBN, 9789054390176. Frank Townsend Barton (1909)
''The Stock-owners' Manual''
London: Everett & Company. Frank Townend Barton (1939)
''Cattle, Sheep and Pigs: Their Practical Breeding and Keeping''
third edition. London: Jarrolds Publishers Limited Alderney Dairy cattle breeds Extinct cattle breeds