2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16
An Ayrshire cow can be said to be a spitting copy of a cow from the Soviet cartoon about Prostokvashino. The creators of this cartoon, perhaps without thinking about it, fully displayed the characteristic features of this breed of cows.
Distinctive characteristics of the breed
First of all, according to many owners of these cows, as well as observers from the outside, Ayrshire heifers and bulls have an incredibly beautiful appearance.
In addition to charm and grace, this type of cow is characterized by high calving ease and longevity.
But still, the main advantage is that the Ayrshire cow is able to consistently produce a fairly high milk yield. For example, it has been recorded that in Russia these cows annually supply an average of 6,000 to 9,000 liters of the freshest milk.
Origin of the suit
An interesting fact is that the Ayrshire cow was bred in Scotland, in the isolated county of Ayrshire. As a matter of fact, this name of cows came from the name of the city. The suit first appeared in 1862.
In the mid-nineteenth century, Ayrshires were massivelybrought to Finland, where at the moment there is the largest number of them in the world - about one hundred and sixty thousand heads.
Russia ranks second in terms of the presence of this type of cattle in the country, about ninety thousand heads are officially registered.
Let's talk about looks
Compared to many other species, the Ayrshire cow is quite small in size. On average, a heifer weighs about 450 kilograms, and a bull - about 800 kilograms.
To understand that this species is exactly a dairy breed is quite simple - the body of individuals is quite proportional. The body of the cow is not large in length, we can say that it looks somewhat shortened. But the wide and powerful back instantly attracts attention.
In general, the Ayrshire cow looks very graceful - it has straight limbs with powerful bones, under the right conditions - well-developed muscles.
The Ayrshire cow, the photo of which can be seen below, has strong, not very long horns, shaped like a lyre.
Special attention to milk
The Aishir cow, reviews of which can be heard from many livestock breeders, has a rather peculiar udder that immediately attracts attention. The fact is that, unlike this breed, not many cows can boast of a regular-shaped udder that looks like a bowl. The udder has a wide distribution of cylindrical teats.
This structure of the udder allowsgive these cows simply amazing milk, the fat content of which is approximately 4.2%. As for the protein content in dairy products, it is about 3.5%.
Among other things, the distinguishing feature of this milk is that it contains practically no somatic cells.
Scientists conducted a study, as a result of which it was found that in order to obtain one liter of milk with a fat content of 4.5%, it is enough for this cow to eat about 880 grams of feed. These indicators are very beneficial in terms of agricultural business.
The main purpose of this cow is dairy products, they are rarely bred for meat.
Cow breeding
The Ayrshire cow is famous for its fast breeding and easy calving. As a rule, it is possible to inseminate a heifer already at a fairly early age - starting from one and a half years. The first calving occurs at about two years of age of the cow. Newborn bulls weigh approximately 28-30 kilograms, while only born heifers are only a few kilograms less, on average, the figure fluctuates around 25 kilograms. In the first year of life, with proper care, calves recover by about 280 kilograms.
Keeping an Ayrshire cow
Many livestock breeders appreciate this type of cows for the fact that they are absolutely unpretentious and do not require privileged conditions.
The cow easily adapts to almost any weather conditions, and is also picky about food -picking up food for her is not difficult. However, it should be borne in mind that poor quality nutrition can affect the quality of milk and its productivity. Therefore, you should not feed the cow with anything.
In this regard, this type of cow has become one of the most popular in agriculture and is widespread in most parts of the world where animal husbandry is developed. A particularly large number of cows of this breed can be found in Europe, America, Argentina, Australia.
As for the Russian Federation, this type of cow is found in twenty-three regions of the country, and, apparently, this figure will only increase. After all, animal husbandry experts have long concluded that the Ayrshire cow is one of the most productive, promising and profitable.
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