Charolais cow breed: characteristics of the breed

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

Probably every person who is seriously interested in cow breeds has heard about Charolais. This extremely successful breed is bred on many farms around the world. Excellent characteristics make it in demand both in large farms and private individuals. Therefore, many farmers and just villagers should learn more about Charolais cows.

History of the breed

The first representatives of this glorious breed appeared in France in the seventeenth century. True, no one was seriously engaged in selection then, so there were no uniform standards. Only in the middle of the nineteenth century, or rather in 1864, the breed was officially recognized, books of account appeared.

However, even at that time, representatives of the Charolais breed very remotely resembled modern ones. They were attributed to the meat and dairy direction, and were valued primarily for their strong immunity. This turned out to be very important for the northern regions with harsh, dank winters. Besides,the breed was not only hardy, but also very strong. Cows and bulls were often used as a draft force - they did an excellent job of this task.

Very close selection took up only after the First World War. Cows were carefully selected, classified, sorted. To improve the breed, it was crossed with Shortgon cows and Simmentals. Already in the middle of the twentieth century, a federation of the Charolais breed, a technical center and breeding enterprises appeared.

Today, representatives of the breed can be found in seventy countries around the world! But they are most common in their homeland, in France - there are about 2 million heads. In Russia, the livestock is much smaller, only about a thousand. Animals are kept in the Tver, Tyumen and Belgorod regions.

Description of appearance

Today, many farmers want to breed Charolais cows. The characteristics of the breed are really impressive, especially in bulls. At the withers, they reach a height of 165 centimeters with an oblique length of up to 220 centimeters. Cows are much smaller - they have these figures are 155 and 195 centimeters, respectively.

The heads are short, small, neat, with a massive forehead. The bridge of the nose is straight or slightly concave. The horns are elongated - they are usually stopped in childhood.

Colors are strictly limited. The standard recognizes only the whitish color with the possibility of various cream shades.

The withers are pronounced. The neck is thick and short, with a distinct crest.

Short, very powerful, wide-set legs end in massive hooves - this is very important, given the weight of the animals, which we will talk about a little later.

Direction

Maybe it's worth talking about the main direction, after a general description of the breed has been given. Charolais cows are predominantly beef cows. Some experts believe that it would be more correct to call them meat and dairy, citing milk yields of up to 2, 5 and even 4 tons per year as arguments. However, there are no documented facts of such milk yields. On average, a cow gives about 1.5 tons of milk per year, that is, a little more than 4 liters per day. It is quite rare to find champions bringing up to 2.5 tons per year, but even this is not enough to call a dairy cow.

But they give a lot of meat. Adult cows weigh approximately 600-750 kilograms. Bulls are much larger - their average weight ranges from 1000 to 1600 kilograms. Relatively rare, but there are times when the mass reaches even 2 tons! At the same time, the meat yield is quite good - about 65 and even 70% from the carcass.

Grow quickly, give very tasty, tender dietary meat. Charolais have practically no subcutaneous fat deposits, for which many experts appreciate the breed. This is especially noticeable when free-range - in such situations, animals practically do not gain fat, all the gain comes from muscle mass.

Maintenance and Care

Before you get Charolais cows, you should find out the features of the content so as not tomake serious mistakes.

When keeping these animals, it is not necessary to spend money on expensive feed - they feel great, add weight well even when eating ordinary silage, hay and haylage. This was made possible due to the good digestibility of the feed. The main thing is that there is enough food - it is advisable to allocate an area with a good margin.

But due to the low content of subcutaneous fat, cows and bulls do not tolerate low temperatures, as well as temperature changes. It is very important to provide them with a warm room in the winter. Otherwise, they may well get sick and even die. This is one of the main reasons why the Charolais breed is not very common in our country.

They are also not well-suited for year-round stalling. In this case, even with a plentiful diet of concentrates, weight gain is slow. So for small pasture farms, this breed can be a very good solution. Eating a large amount of grass in the summer, animals quickly gain weight.

Charolais cows do not require any other care features - conditions suitable for representatives of other breeds are also suitable for them.

Main Benefits

Of course, the main advantage for which the breed is highly valued by experts is the rapid weight gain. Often bulls are sent for slaughter at the age of 4 months. By this time, they weigh about 200-220 kilograms. This makes it possible to keep them for only one season - from April toOctober, when in many regions of our country it is possible to do without insulated cowsheds, after which they can be slaughtered.

The heredity of the breed is very well transmitted to descendants - well-fixed breed characteristics affect.

Cows remain productive until very old age - 15 years and even older. Moreover, you can slaughter them at any time - even old cows and bulls have very tender, tasty meat.

Thus, it is not surprising that the feedback from the owners of Charolais cows is predominantly positive. But it was not without a fly in the ointment.

Current shortcomings

Unfortunately, any breed that has important advantages is not without its drawbacks. Knowing about them, perhaps, is even more important than about the merits.

Although cows remain productive for a long time, childbirth is usually difficult - primarily due to the large size of the calves. It is rare to get by without the help of a veterinarian.

Animals are very aggressive, especially bulls. However, cows, when there are calves next to them, are almost not inferior to them in aggression.

Quite often, calves are born with diseases that subsequently cause heart failure. Most successfully survive to slaughter age, but require special care.

A few words about calves

A cow usually brings one calf, but twins are not uncommon. On the one hand, this is a plus. On the other hand, she gives so much milk that it is simply not enough for two. And you can’t use artificial mixtures - in this casecalves often get sick. We have to attract other cows to feed.

It is also worth considering that calves that are not handed over for slaughter must remain with their mother for a long time. At the same time, the cow shows particular aggression towards anyone who approaches the calf.

But calves are born surprisingly large - 50-55 kilograms. With good feeding, they gain 1-1.5 kilograms per day, which is an excellent indicator.

Conclusion

Our article is coming to an end. Now you know what advantages and disadvantages the Charolais breed has. So, you can make a deliberate choice, which you will not regret later.