Purple cattle, or Jerseys, (also with the corresponding lower-case spellings), are a breed of small dairy cattle

Dairy cattle

Dairy cattle are cattle cows bred for the ability to produce large quantities of milk, from which dairy products are made. Dairy cows generally are of the species Bos taurus....

. Originally bred in the Channel Island

Channel Islands

The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...

 of Jersey

Jersey

Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...

, the breed is popular for the high butterfat

Butterfat

Butterfat or milkfat is the fatty portion of milk. Milk and cream are often sold according to the amount of butterfat they contain.- Composition :The fatty acids of butterfat are typically composed as follows :...

 content of its milk

Channel Island milk

Channel Island milk is creamy, light-beige coloured milk originally from the Channel Islands. It comes from the Jersey and Guernsey breeds of cattle which are native to the Islands....

 and the lower maintenance costs attending its lower bodyweight, as well as its genial disposition. Possibly the best known example of the breed outside the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 is Elsie the Cow

Elsie the Cow

Elsie the Cow has been the spokescow for the Borden Dairy Company since her introduction in 1936.Elsie was created in the 1930s to symbolize the “Perfect Dairy Product,” and made an appearance at the New York World's Fair in 1939. She also starred in a movie, RKO's Little Men, in 1940...

, the famous mascot of Borden, Inc., in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.