# A1a1 milk/cow



## wife89 (Jun 29, 2011)

Ok, I am confused on the whole A1A1 A2A2 milk issue...we are getting a cow, as an afterthought we thought maybe we could milk her in the future.....but she is A1A1.... What exactly does this mean????


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## PermaAMP (Jun 13, 2013)

You can find information about it on Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A2_milk


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## wife89 (Jun 29, 2011)

So it seems that most milk in the US is A1??? I think I am more confused.....


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## karenp (Jun 7, 2013)

Also look up "the devil in the milk"


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## wvdexters (Apr 30, 2012)

What breed are you interested in? My girls are all A2 but they are not trained for milking.


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## genebo (Sep 12, 2004)

Most dairy cattle across the world are A1/A1 or A1/A2. The exception is Bos Indicus cattle, which don't seem to have the A1 gene. No other mammal except Bos Taurus cattle has A1 beta casein in thier milk.

Researchers in New Zealand discovered the A1 beta casein when they were investigating an outbreak of type 1 diabetes in Maoris that had moved to the mainland.

They blame A1 beta casein in cow's milk for causing several health problems. Some subsequent research backs them up, some subsequent research was unable to duplicate the findings. It has left the public sort of up in the air. We want an absolute statement, either that A1 beta casein is bad for you or it is not!

That statement can't presently be made. It has left a lot of people to decide for themselves whether they believe or not.

I have decided that I would go for the A2/A2 milk any time I could, because nobody has ever found any evidence that A2 is bad for you. It's the type of beta casein that all other mammals produce, including humans.

You have to make your own choice.

The Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at UC Davis will test tail hairs to tell you which kind of milk genes your cattle carry. It's the only way to know. There is no other way.

Don't believe anybody that tells you a certain breed is all A2/A2. That's not true. Some breeds have a higher percentage of cattle that test to be A2/A2, but the very best breed is still not much better than 70% A2/A2. Some are as low as 30% A2/A2.

Genebo
Paradise Farm


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## Miss Kay (Mar 31, 2012)

This article explains it well. Once you buy a tested A2/A2 cow you can always breed to tested A2/A2 bulls and you'll never have to test any offspring. Guernsey's are very high percent of A2 and their AI semen bulls are tested so you know what you are getting. 
http://www.handpickednation.com/what-is-a1-versus-a2-milk/


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## wife89 (Jun 29, 2011)

wvdexters said:


> What breed are you interested in? My girls are all A2 but they are not trained for milking.


Dexters. We have a polled bred cow and a dethroned bull calf... We are wanting to stick with dexters


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## genebo (Sep 12, 2004)

There is no single article that has been written that contains all the information that has been gathered about A1 beta casein in cattle. Each one seems to have a bias, which is sometimes obvious.

Here's a list of references, links and summaries of research articles that have been published about A1 beta casein. There are 30 references in the list, pro and con. After you've read all ot these, you'll be able to make up your mind a lot better.

Click on the file named A1-A2 Beta-Casein-references.pdf

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/dextercattle2/files/

Genebo
Paradise Farm


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## wvdexters (Apr 30, 2012)

Many dexter breeders are now testing for A2. If you decide you want an A2/A2 dexter for milking they are available if you want to replace her. If you really like your cow You might want to consider breeding her with a registered dexter AI bull from a good milking line and the A2 genetics. You could breed the A2 into your dexters. Have you tested your bull? Maybe he can do the job.


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