Cattle appraisal: why and how is it carried out

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Assessment is called a qualitative assessment of agricultural animals, carried out in order to determine their economic value. Such studies are being carried out, including, of course, on farms specializing in raising cows and bulls. Cattle are graded by specialists in accordance with the breed of animals, weight, exterior, origin, etc.

Preparations

Before grading, on the farm:

• Check livestock for inventory numbers, identifying lost or obscure ones;
• systematize information about keeping and feeding;
• cows sum up milk yields for the last 305 days;
• fill in the cards for F2-youth

What is the procedure

Appraisal is primarily an operation that allows you to select certain individuals for a tribe and determine the potential of the farm in terms of milk and meat production. When carrying out this procedure, the following activities are performed on farms:

• breed of cattle is determined;
• under evaluationconformation and constitution of animals;
• assessment of cow productivity in terms of yield and milk quality.

At the end of the research, experts make a conclusion and assign each animal to a certain class. The latter is determined in accordance with the instructions of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation. In these documents, the complexes of distinctive features of animals of various classes are described in detail.

Purebred cows

First of all, specialists on the farm study the pedigrees of the contained cattle. At the same time, purebred animals and crossbreeds are revealed. In the list opposite the nickname of each animal, a corresponding note is made. A cow or a bull can be assigned to the first type if:

• both of their parents are purebreds of the same breed - Ayrshire, Simmental, Russian Black-and-White, Dutch, Holstein, etc.;
• animals are crossbreeds obtained by absorption crossbreeding, starting from the IV generation (subject to the conformity of the exterior and development of the breed).

Purebred specialists when performing grading also recognize crossbreeds obtained from crossing purebred sires of different breeds. It can be, for example, young animals from:

• Montbeliarde, Sychov and Simmental breeds.

• Red: steppe, Danish, Swedish, Estonian, etc., as well as angelic.

• Kostroma, Swedish,Caucasian, Yurin, Alatau.
• Black and white: Russian, Estonian, Lithuanian, Dutch cows, etc.
• White-headed Ukrainian and Groningen.
• Shorthorn and Kurgan.

At the same time, offspring from cattle of the same root, for example, the Red Steppe, Ayrshire and Danish breeds, are classified as improved varieties.

Mixes

This group includes offspring:

• Cattle belonging to different breeds;
• obtained as a result of breeding "in itself";
• obtained by crossing purebred cattle with local.

When conducting grading on a farm, among other things, the degree of breed of animals is also revealed. This is done in farms specializing in breeding Holstein cows, Kostroma, brown Caucasian and any other. When determining the degree of pedigree, special tables are used. At the same time, attention is paid to the exterior and productivity of the animal.

If a cow or a bull has all the signs of pedigree, but the documents for them are lost, they are classified as crossbreeds of the I-II generation.

How cows are evaluated for milk production

Cattle are rarely bred for meat in Russia. Therefore, the productivity of such animals during grading is most often determined in accordance with the quantity and quality of milk received from them.

The assessment is made in this case, taking into account the following indicators:

• milk inkilograms;
• amount of fat contained in milk (%);
• milk delivery speed.

When performing research, special tables are used, in which for each breed the minimum milk yields for 1, 2 and 3 lactations are indicated, as well as the amount of fat contained in milk for the same periods. Each animal in the process of grading cattle is checked for compliance with these standards.

The minimum requirements indicated in the tables are set only for first-calf heifers that have calved under 30 months of age. For cows that calved later, the same figures plus 10% are taken. Animals that have calved twice are checked for productivity for 2 lactations, full-aged cattle - for any 3.

Control milking in order to establish the productivity by the amount of milk, as well as the calculation of the average fat content, is carried out at least once a month. The rate of return is determined for 2-3 months. lactation within one day. At the same time, the amount of milk produced per day and the time spent on obtaining it are taken into account.

Instructions for grading cattle: constitution and exterior

On farms, according to these characteristics, cows are supposed to be evaluated at the first and third calving. In this case, studies should be carried out at 2-3 months of lactation. Bulls are checked annually until they reach the age of 5 years. With a planned grading of cattle, an assessment of the constitution and exterior is carried out only if they were not carried out in the indicated periods.

When performing research on cows, first of all, attention is paid to suchsigns like:

• harmonious physique;
• expressiveness of breed characteristics;
• udder size;
• udder shape;
• machine milkable.

At the same time bulls are evaluated:

• expressiveness of breed characteristics;
• harmonious physique;
• lumbar strength;
• strength of the hindquarters.

After examination, each adult animal is assigned, depending on the result, a score from 1 to 10. In this case, the result must be supplemented with a list of identified defects and defects.

The exterior of young cattle when performing grading is evaluated not in 10, but in a 5-point system. At the same time, calves are entered into the group of “excellent students” only if they have:

• well developed and age-appropriate growth at the withers;
• wide, without interception behind the shoulder blades, chest;
• straight line of the sacrum, lower back and back;
• good development of the pelvis;
• correct foot placement with strong bones.

Dutch cows, Ayrshire, Black-and-White, etc. may go down, for example:

• for rough bones;
• narrow chest;
• overdeveloped head;
• forked withers;
• saggybelly;
• drooping or too small udder;
• short, abnormally developed, closely spaced nipples;
• turn to the sides of the front legs;
• narrow, flat, loose hooves, etc.

Of course, specialists pay special attention to the udder when evaluating the exterior of cows. Those cows in which it is not suitable for machine milking, in some cases, may even be culled and sent to the slaughterhouse. This is how they do it on big farms.

How the final grade is done

The information obtained as a result of research during the evaluation of cattle is compared with the data from the tables. At the same time, cows are evaluated by:

• milk production;
• constitution and exterior;
• genotype.

Bulls by:

• genotype;
• exterior and constitution.

Young growth by:

• genotype;
• exterior and constitution;
• degrees of development.

For each of these signs, when assessing cattle on farms, according to the data from the tables, an animal is assigned a certain number of points. Further, the points are summed up and, according to the results, a cow, calf or bull is assigned to a certain class. At the same time, there are only 4 last for adults:

• elite-record - from 80 points;
• elite - 70-79;
• I class - 60-69;
• II class - 50-59.

Classes provided for calves:

• elite-record - from 40 points and above;
• elite - 34-39 points;
• I class - 30-34;
• II class - 25-29.

Only cows of at least III generation (7/8) can be assigned to the elite-record group, and the elite - II. Moreover, in both cases, the live weight of animals must meet the requirements of class I.

Score

Adult Holstein, Red Steppe, Dutch and any other dairy cows can be assigned:

• in terms of productivity - up to 60 points;
• on the exterior - up to 24;
• by genotype - up to 16.

Young animals can be credited with:

• by genotype - up to 30 points;
• on the exterior - up to 10;
• for development - up to 10.

In the same farm, both highly productive animals and animals that do not differ in outstanding qualities can be identified. In many cases, classiness is not assigned to cows at all. However, such animals, of course, continue to be kept on farms. The only thing is that they are not used as producers.

Use of letters in classification

In the classification of cows, among other things, letters can also be used. For example, if an animal is assigned Iclass A, which means that it is able to give a little more milk than other cattle of the same group. The letter B indicates the increased fat content of milk.

Of course, in different years the productivity of cows can change. However, the class of each animal is allowed only to increase during the following checks. If a cow has significantly reduced productivity for any reason, she is still left in the group to which she was originally assigned.

Final stage

Appraisal is a procedure that, among other things, determines the purpose for each individual on the farm. All cool cows on farms are usually grouped into a breeding core. At the same time, the most outstanding animals are selected for custom mating, carried out in order to obtain young animals for breeding enterprises.

Also, according to the results of appraisal, plans are made:

• mating animals on the farm, aimed at improving the breeding qualities of the herd;
• herd picking;
• breeding replacements;
• measures to improve livestock productivity.

According to the results of appraisal, a report is also prepared at the final stage. This procedure is usually carried out by livestock breeders who are full-time employees of farms. Also, employees of research institutes or scientists specializing in this particular breed - Simmental, Red Steppe, Holstein, etc.