The Ayrshire cattle is a breed of dairy

Dairy farming

Dairy farming is a class of agricultural, or an animal husbandry, enterprise, for long-term production of milk, usually from dairy cows but also from goats and sheep, which may be either processed on-site or transported to a dairy factory for processing and eventual retail sale.Most dairy farms...

 cattle

Cattle

Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...

 originated from Ayrshire

Ayrshire

Ayrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...

 in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. The average mature Ayrshire cow weighs 1,000-1,300 pounds (450-600 kg). Ayrshires have red markings. The red can be an orange to a dark brown, with or without coloured legs. They are known for low somatic cell counts, ability to convert grass into milk efficiently, and hardiness. The breed's strong points are the now desired traits of easy calving and longevity.

The breed was also known as Dunlop cattle (see Dunlop

Dunlop, East Ayrshire

Dunlop is a village and parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It lies on the A735, north-east of Stewarton, seven miles from Kilmarnock. The road runs on to Lugton and the B706 enters the village from Beith.-The village:...

) or Cunninghame cattle (see Cunninghame

Cunninghame

Cunninghame is a former comital district of Scotland and also a district of the Strathclyde Region from 1975–1996.-Historic Cunninghame:The historic district of Cunninghame was bordered by the districts of Renfrew and Clydesdale to the north and east respectively, by the district of Kyle to the...

).