Cattle are domestic artiodactyl ruminants of the bovid family of the true bovine genus. It produces more than half of all meat, as well as almost all the milk and dairy products. Cattle hides are the best raw material for leather, from which shoes, etc. are made.
Cattle include several different species, the main ones being cattle, zebu, buffalo and yak. The most common are cattle themselves; in second place is the zebu, which is bred mainly in Asia, in third place is the buffalo, which is bred in Asia, Africa and Southeast Europe. The yak is distributed only in the highlands of Asia.
Actually cattle. About 50 breeds and breed groups of cattle are bred in the CIS. Each breed is adapted to certain natural conditions: one feels good in the mountains, the other in the steppe, one tolerates cold well, the other tolerates heat. Some breeds produce a lot of milk, while others produce high-quality meat. Some breeds do not have a clearly defined specialization and are considered combined - meat-dairy and milk-meat.
The main dairy breeds that are bred in our country: black-and-white, Kholmogory, red steppe, Yaroslavl, Tagil, brown Latvian, Jersey.
Dairy cattle have an elongated, narrow body and high legs, highly developed lungs, heart, digestive organs and mammary glands. This structure of the body and individual organs of a dairy cow is adapted for processing feed into milk. A cow can eat up to 100 kg of grass and other feed per day and process it into milk. The muscles of dairy cattle are more moderately developed. During fattening, fat is deposited mainly on internal organs and under the skin.
The oldest Russian breed of dairy cattle is the Kholmogory. It was bred in the 17th century. peasants of the Kholmogory district of the Arkhangelsk province by breeding local cattle, as well as crossing them with bulls of the Dutch breed. This breed is adapted to the northern climate and long-term stabling. Nowadays, Kholmogory cattle are bred in many northern and central regions, including Moscow and adjacent regions. Kholmogory cattle are black and white. It is large (live weight of cows is 450-550 kg, bulls - 800-900 kg). In advanced farms, Kholmogory cows produce 5000-5500 kg or more of milk per year.
In Ukraine, in the southern regions of Russia, as well as in some areas of Western Siberia and Kazakhstan, the Red Steppe breed, one of the many dairy breeds, is widespread. It thrives in hot, dry climates and on steppe pastures. Cattle of this breed are predominantly light red in color, the live weight of cows is 400-500 kg, of bulls - 800-900 kg, the cows are distinguished by good milk production. In our best farms, the milk yield of cows of this breed reaches an average of 5000 kg or more per year.
In many farms in the central and western regions of the Russian Federation, as well as in the regions of the Urals, Siberia, the Far East, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Estonia, and Uzbekistan, the black-and-white breed is bred, bred in our country by crossing local cattle with black-and-white cattle breeds of Dutch origin.
The black-and-white breed is considered unsurpassed in milk production. The best cows produce 15-20 thousand kg or more of milk per lactation. The animals are well adapted to housing and grazing and are in good health.
Meat breeds common in the Russian Federation include Kalmyk, Kazakh Whitehead, Shorthorn, Hereford, Aberdeen Angus, Charolais, etc. Many other meat breeds are bred in other countries. The characteristic features of beef cattle are rapid growth, early maturity, the ability to fatten at a young age and produce good meat, juicy and tender, with thin layers of fat. Beef cows produce little milk.
The oldest meat breed, the Shorthorn, was bred in the 18th century. in England. Shorthorns are distinguished by their high early maturity and very good meat quality. Bulls fed for meat are capable of producing 1200-1400 g of weight gain per day, which is twice the normal weight gain of dairy cattle. Animals of this breed come in red, gray or roan (a mixture of white and red hair) colors, with a wide, massive body on low legs. The head is small, with short horns. Shorthorns are common in many countries in Europe, America and Australia. They have been imported to Russia since the last century and are now bred in Bashkiria, Rostov and Voronezh regions.
In England, following the Shorthorn, several more meat breeds were bred - Hereford, Aberdeen-Angus, Galloway, Highland, etc. Of these, Hereford and Aberdeen-Angus cattle are also bred in the Russian Federation.
In the USSR, a new beef breed was developed by crossing local Kazakh cattle with Hereford cattle. She received the name Kazakh white-headed. This breed is well adapted to the hot, dry climate of Kazakhstan and the Orenburg region, is distinguished by early maturity and is not inferior in meat quality to English meat breeds. Of our meat breeds, the Kazakh White-headed is the most common and ranks first in number.
In second place is the Kalmyk breed of red color with a white head, erect horns, distinguished by exceptionally good health and endurance. These cattle, together with the nomadic Kalmyk tribes who migrated from Asia, appeared in the Lower Volga region at the beginning of the 17th century. Here in the Astrakhan steppes, animals graze all year round, obtaining food from under the snow in winter.
We have many breeds of combined productivity - Schwyz (and its derivatives - Kostroma, Lebedinskaya, Alatau, Caucasian and Carpathian brown), Simmental (and its derivative - Sychevskaya), Bestuzhevskaya, Kurgan, Red Gorbatovskaya, etc. With good feeding and proper maintenance, this cattle produce good meat, and cows can produce quite a lot of milk.
Among the breeds of combined productivity, the first place in terms of the number of heads is occupied by the Simmental. It is bred in many regions from the west to the Far East and from the central regions to Ukraine and the Caucasus. The breed was bred in Switzerland and is considered a mountain cattle, but it also thrives in steppe regions. This breed began to be imported to Russia in the last century. Simmentals are very large animals of a fawn-variegated (yellow-motley) color with a characteristic broad-browed head, a wide body on high legs. The average live weight of Simmental cows is 600-700 kg, and that of bulls is about 1000 kg; individual bulls weigh up to 1200 kg or more. Simmental cows produce 3000-3500 kg of milk per year, in the best farms - up to 5000 kg. Fat in milk is 3.8-4%.
The dairy and meat Swiss breed is widespread. It, like the Simmental, was bred in Switzerland and brought to Russia in the last century. By crossing local cattle with Swiss cattle, Soviet cattle breeders developed several new highly productive breeds. Among them, the Kostroma cow is the most famous for its high milk yield.
A wonderful Russian meat and dairy breed - the Bestuzhevsky - is distributed in several regions along the middle reaches of the Volga. This breed was bred in the last century from the crossing of several Russian and foreign breeds - local, Dutch, Shorthorn, Simmental, etc. Bestuzhevka inherited good milk production from Dutch cattle, high meat qualities from Shorthorns, size and working qualities from Simmentals, and from local - good acclimatization abilities. Bestuzhev cattle produce an average of 2500-3000 kg of milk per year, they mature quickly and fatten quickly.
Livestock breeders continue to work on new breeds, trying to breed even more productive animals that are better adapted to local natural conditions.
But even in the case when livestock is fully adapted to natural conditions, it is always possible to increase its productivity by constantly selecting the best animals for the tribe or crossing with other breeds (see Breed of animals, Breeding of farm animals, Zoning of animal breeds).
Zebu.
Zebu is the closest relative of ordinary cattle. It is distinguished by a highly developed muscle-fat hump on its back. In newborn calves, the hump is underdeveloped; in adult animals, especially bulls, the height of the hump reaches 30-40 cm.
There are two varieties of zebu - Asian short-horned and African long-horned. The most common zebu is in India, where there are several different breeds of the dairy and working varieties. The colors of zebu are varied, like those of our cows, but red and white predominate. Zebu tolerates hot climates very well and is little susceptible to a number of diseases, including blood parasitic diseases - the scourge of cattle in hot countries. Therefore, the zebu is irreplaceable here.
In terms of milk productivity, zebu is inferior to ordinary cattle. The milk yield of zebu cows is on average 500-700 kg per year, but the milk fat content is high - 5-6%, and in some animals - 7-8%. With ordinary cattle, zebu produces quite fertile hybrids. In this way, livestock breeders are developing new, highly productive breeds of livestock for hot areas. Azerbaijani zebu are bred in Transcaucasia, and zebu cattle are bred in Central Asia. Our zebu breeds are relatively small, the live weight of cows is 250-350 kg.
Buffalo.
Buffaloes are quite different from ordinary cattle in the structure of their heads, thick horns diverging to the sides, sparse hair, and a short body with a deflated rump. The behavior of buffaloes has its own characteristics: they love to lie in water, immersed up to their necks, and try to spend the entire hot part of the day like this. Buffaloes do not tolerate heat well because the sweat glands in their skin are poorly developed. The love of swimming often leads to the fact that animals harnessed to a cart, having encountered a pond or just a puddle on the way, lie down in the water, and it is not easy to raise them.
There are two types of buffalo - African and Asian. The Asian buffalo is bred in the Transcaucasus, as well as in Bulgaria, Romania, and Yugoslavia.
Buffaloes are very hardy, large and strong animals; they are used for field work and for transporting heavy loads. The best buffaloes produce little milk - 800-1000 kg per year, but it contains 8-9% fat. The meat of adult buffaloes is tough, but that of young animals is somewhat better. Buffalo leather has earned the reputation of being the most durable; shoe soles are made from it.
The yak has thick and long hair, especially on the belly and sides. Its tail with a large brush resembles a horse's. High withers give the impression of a hunchback. Yak is smaller than ordinary cattle. The yak has a unique grunt-like voice, which is why it is called the grunting bull. Thanks to its thick wool, the yak easily tolerates severe frosts and can live in the open air for a long time. Long, coarse hair on its belly and sides allows it to lie on the snow. Yaks are common in the highlands of Asia, where other types of livestock cannot exist. In the CIS, yaks are bred in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Buryatia, and the Gorno-Altai region. Yaks are used as pack and dairy cattle. The amount of milk produced by a yak cow is small - 300-400 kg per year, but it is very fatty (5-6% fat).
Milk and meat productivity of livestock. The amount of milk yield varies between cows of different species. Bison, bison and other wild species have only enough milk to raise one calf, while cows of the least productive breeds of livestock can produce 6-10 kg per day, and 600-800 kg per year. For cows of Kholmogory, Kostroma and other breeds, the average milk yield is 15-20 kg per day, and per year - 4000-5000 kg. Some cows are capable of producing 50-60 kg or more of milk per day (see Lactation).
Animals of specialized meat breeds grow very quickly, gaining weight by 900-1000 g per day, and the best - by 1300-1500 g. A just-born good calf of a meat breed weighs 25-30 kg, after 12 months its weight is already 400 kg, and by 15-16 months - half a ton. In the carcass of well-fed animals, the specific gravity of muscles and fat is greater, bones and tendons are less. In this case, the fat is distributed in the thickness of the muscles in thin layers, which makes the meat juicy and tasty. Unfed animals have little fat in their meat, and their muscles are dry and hard. Such meat is tasteless and less nutritious. Cattle are slaughtered for meat at different ages. Good meat is produced by fattened animals at 16-18 months of age. The meat of older animals is rougher. Very good, tender and tasty meat comes from well-fed young animals under one year of age.
Feeding and keeping of cattle. Cattle, like other ruminants, can eat feed containing large amounts of fiber - hay, straw, grass.
In summer, the main food for livestock is pasture grass. Highly productive cows need to supplement with freshly cut grass, silage or concentrates. In winter, livestock are fed hay, silage, haylage, straw, chaff, succulent feed - silage, root crops - and concentrates. Table salt, chalk, and bone meal are added to the feed. The amount of feed given depends on the weight, age, size and productivity of the animals.
Calves are fed differently. There are several ways to raise calves: suckling under their mothers, under nursing cows, and hand-feeding. In beef cattle breeding, where cows are not milked, calves are raised under their mothers for up to 5-8 months. In dairy farming, group rearing of calves under nurse cows is practiced. To do this, choose a calm, healthy cow and allow 3-4 calves under her at the same time. The calves stay with the wet nurse for 3-3.5 months and at the same time receive additional feeding - hay, root vegetables, concentrates. Then they are transferred to plant food, and a new group of calves is allowed under the wet nurse. Under one cow, from 7-8 to 10-12 calves are raised during the year. This method reduces labor costs for raising young animals, and calves always receive fresh milk, which is very important for their health.
The most common method is hand feeding of calves. Each calf is given food depending on its weight and age. This method, although it requires more labor, allows you to use feed more economically.
Depending on climatic conditions, livestock are kept either indoors or in open stalls. The natural conditions of our country do not allow livestock to be kept outdoors all year round. To protect it from cold autumn rains, winter blizzards and frosts, special premises are built - cowsheds, calf sheds. In the southern regions, buildings are of a lighter, semi-open type, in the form of sheds; in the northern regions they are warm, with thick walls, ceilings and floors. Buildings for livestock are equipped with harnesses, water supply with automatic drinking bowls, and electric lighting (see Livestock farm, Animal husbandry).
In most farms, livestock are tied indoors in winter. Only for 1.5-2 hours a day is he allowed to go for walks in the pens near the stockyards. Some farms practice free-stall livestock keeping. The animals are kept in spacious barnyards and can freely go out into the pens, where they eat rough and succulent food. This method is more suitable for keeping young animals, as well as beef and fattening cattle.
In livestock farming, cattle (hereinafter referred to as cattle) are domestic artiodactyl ruminants of the bovid family - cows and bulls. If we consider the concept of cattle outside of agriculture, then it also includes bison, bison, guyal and yak. In some | countries, these animals are also domesticated. The ancestor of modern bulls and cows is the aurochs, a now extinct animal.
In agriculture, cattle are used mainly in 2 areas - meat and dairy. The third direction - the use of oxen (castrated bulls) as draft power - is currently very rare. The share of cattle in modern livestock farming accounts for about 50% of all meat produced and about 95% of all milk produced.
The number of cattle worldwide is more than 1.2 billion heads. This popularity is explained by the ability to provide the most important food products for humans - milk and meat, effectively processing plant feed into them.
Milk contains proteins, milk fat, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, enzymes, etc. - a total of about 1-60 beneficial nutrients. Moreover, their proportions correspond to human needs. On average, the percentages of various substances in milk are as follows:
water - 87.5%;
milk fat - 3.8%;
proteins - 3.3%;
milk sugar - 4.7%;
minerals - 0.7%.
Numerous dairy products are made from milk - cottage cheese, butter, sour cream, cheeses, etc. According to European scientists, during a lifetime a person consumes on average up to 10 tons of cow's milk and more than 3 tons of dairy products.
The required amount of milk is provided by the dairy sector of cattle breeding, which is engaged in the breeding and improvement of dairy cattle breeds. Dairy breeds are those breeds that have higher milk production compared to other breeds. An indicator of milk productivity is the amount of milk yield and the content of nutrients in milk, primarily fat and protein.
Assessment of milk productivity can be carried out using various indicators: daily milk yield, highest daily milk yield, lifetime milk yield (i.e. total milk yield during the entire productive period of a cow’s life), etc. However, the most common indicator by which milk productivity is determined is milk yield per lactation - the period between 2 adjacent calvings (usually it is 305 days).
Cattle meat - beef and veal - is also one of the most valuable food products. It has an overall high nutritional value, high protein content (up to 17%) and animal fat (up to 19%). To obtain high-quality beef, livestock farmers breed specialized meat breeds of cattle. There are also breeds that meet both the requirements of abundant milk production and high-quality meat. They belong to the group of meat and dairy products.
In Russia, beef makes up more than 45% of all meat produced, and the annual consumption rate of this product averages more than 60 kg per capita.
Indicators of meat productivity are slaughter weight and slaughter yield. Slaughter mass is the mass of a bloodless animal carcass without head, legs, skin and internal organs (except kidneys). Slaughter yield is the percentage of slaughter weight to live weight. For meat breeds, a good indicator is a slaughter yield of about 60%.
Veal is also recognized as a valuable food product. Young meat is poorer in fat content, lower in calories and more tender.
The quality of meat, its nutritional value and overall yield depend on such an indicator as the fatness of the livestock, which is determined by visual inspection and palpation. An animal is considered well-fed when it has a fleshy back, dense fleshy shoulder blades, a dense muscle layer on the ribs, and fleshy thighs.
Over 50% of all livestock income comes from livestock farming. Cattle breeding is a source of the most nutritious food products - milk and meat. For a long time, the human diet included milk processing products - kefir, yogurt, sour cream, butter and other dairy products. Milk contains all the necessary nutrients in an easily digestible form: fat, protein, sugar, minerals, enzymes, etc.
Beef is a valuable food product containing all the nutrients of animal origin necessary for humans. In accordance with scientifically based nutritional standards, the share of beef in the human diet should be 40-45% of total meat consumption. A number of important by-products are also obtained from cattle: food products: by-products - liver, kidneys, lungs, etc.; animal fat, gelatin, natural sausage casings; non-food products: leather, cosmetics, buttons, brushes, surgical threads, soap, violin strings, etc.; medications: rennet, adrenaline, thrombin, insulin, heparin, estrogen, etc.
In terms of quantity and quality, leather obtained from cattle ranks first among the leathers of farm animals.
Due to the peculiarities of digestion (multi-chamber stomach), cattle are able to effectively use cheap bulky plant feed, processed products from the sugar, oil-extractive and other industries. Cattle make good use of feed containing a large amount of fiber; they are processed 2-3 times better than by pigs and horses.
When it comes to paying for feed, a dairy cow is considered the most profitable. To produce 1 kg of milk, 1-1.2 feed units are consumed, 50% of the feed energy is spent on milk production, and about 17% is spent on live weight gain in fattening cattle. In terms of efficiency of feed energy absorption, cattle are inferior to pigs and poultry, but the livestock diet also consists of cheap feed.
One of the characteristics of cattle is their rapid acclimatization in different breeding areas. Due to biochemical processes in the rumen associated with the release of heat, large body weight (500-700 kg) and other anatomical and physiological characteristics, cattle tolerate low temperatures well.
Cattle breeding is closely related to crop production. By eating voluminous feed rich in fiber, cattle produce a large amount of manure, which is used as a valuable organic fertilizer (7-8 tons of manure are obtained from one cow per year).
Cattle are characterized by late maturity. Sexual maturity, depending on precocity and breed, occurs at 6-8 months, but heifers are inseminated at 17-18 months, pregnancy lasts 285 days, as a rule, cows give birth to one calf. The natural lifespan of a cow is 20-36 years. But for breeding and production purposes, cattle are used for a short time (cows are 10-12 years old, stud bulls are up to 7-8 years of age). Since their productivity and fertility decrease with age. But the most valuable producers use 16-20 years.
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History of breeds
Attempts to classify cattle began in the 19th century. The scientific researcher A. Terr distributed all the animals based on the topography of the area in which they live. As a result, names were given to the groups: lowland, mountain and middle. For some time, this division of livestock satisfied the needs of livestock breeders, but soon, as animals were dispersed across all relief zones, the classification became unacceptable. There was a long period in history when the classification proposed by the researcher Zettegast was supported, which united livestock according to the level of breeding. These were cows of the cultural, primitive and transitional categories.
Professor M.I. Pridorogin proposed dividing animals according to the type of product obtained. As a result, animals for meat, dairy and mixed production appeared. Later, when forming breeds, they began to take into account the nature of productivity, anatomical, morphological and other species characteristics of cattle and form subgroups based on these characteristics.
The modern classification is compiled depending on the breeding zone, such as, for example: Yaroslavl, Dutch, Hereford, Swiss and others. In some cases, its dominant color is added to the name of the breed, for example: red Gorbatovsky or gray Ukrainian.
Dairy productivity breeds
- Dutch. It spread widely across the European continent and became the founder of a number of new breeding groups. Known as one of the highest-yielding cows in the world, her average milk yield per lactation ranges from 4450-4500 kilograms, with a fat content of 4%. The record holder of the breed is a cow named Sneaker, which after the eighth calving produced 11,208 kilograms of milk with a fat content of 4.14%.
- Black-and-white. It was formed as a result of selective crossing of Dutch black-and-white cattle with local cows living in various republics of the former USSR. On ordinary farms, cows of this breed produce 3000-3500 kilograms of milk, with a fat composition of up to 4%. Breeding farms receive a milk yield of up to 8,000 kilograms during the lactation period.
- Kholmogorskaya. One of the oldest and most famous cows, bred in the Kholmogory district of the Arkhangelsk region of the Russian Federation. Milk productivity on farms ranges from 3,000 to 3,500 kilograms of milk per season; in advanced farms, the yield exceeds 7,000 kilograms with a fat content of 3.7%.
- Tagilskaya. The breed was bred in Nizhny Tagil, Sverdlovsk region of the Russian Federation, from heifers and bulls of the Dutch breed at the very beginning of the 20th century. Currently, the species is represented by a wide variety of colors, where they are found as black-and-white, completely black, red and red-and-white individuals. It is distinguished by high milk yield, which can reach 4.5 thousand liters per season.
- Yaroslavskaya. The group was bred in the mid-19th century in the Yaroslavl region. Some researchers believe that Kholmogory and Dutch cattle and local animals took part in the creation of the breed. But there is no evidence of this fact. Milk productivity allows one cow to obtain up to 6,000 kilograms of milk; record cases of obtaining up to 12,000 kilograms of milk per lactation are described.
Dairy breeds also include Istobensky, Aulieatinsky, Ukrainian White-headed, Red Steppe, Danish Red, Baltic Red, Ayrshire, Jaysey and some other breeds.
Breeds of double (combined) productivity
- Simmentalskaya. This species was bred in Switzerland in the 5th century, its origin is not known for certain, there are only various assumptions. When kept in stalls, bulls of this breed are capable of giving weight gain of up to 900-1100 grams per day and easily reach a live weight of one ton. Milk productivity ranges from 4 to 5.5 thousand kilograms of milk during the lactation period, while the fat content is up to 4%. The record holder of the breed is a cow named Malvina, which produced 14,450 kilograms of milk with a fat content of 3.9%.
- Sychevskaya. The breed was bred in the Smolensk region in the second half of the 19th century by crossing Simmental cattle with local animals. It is unpretentious in food, gives high milk yield and good meat yield. The average daily weight gain of fattened bulls is 1000-1200 grams. Dairy cows are capable of producing 4,500 kilograms of milk per season with a fat content of at least 3.5%.
- Bestuzhevskaya. Bred by cattle breeder S.P. Bestuzhev. on the Repyevka farm in Simbirsk province by crossing local cattle with Durgam (Shorthorn) meat animals. The milk yield of cows reaches 4,000 - 6,000 kilograms of milk with a fat content of 3.7 - 4.0%. The live weight of fattened bulls can reach 700 kilograms.
- Brown cattle. This group of animals includes several breeds of a combined direction: Swiss, Kostroma, Lebedinskaya, Alatau, Carpathian brown and Caucasian brown. All brown cattle produce a good yield of high quality meat and dairy products.
In addition, the combined productivity includes such breeds as Red Tambov, Red Gorbatov, Yurin, Shorthorn, Kurgan, Gray Ukrainian, Pinzgau.
Breeds of meat productivity
- Kalmytskaya. There is no consensus on the origin of the breed. It is believed that either Indian cattle or Asian aurochs were used in the creation process. Usually the color of the animals is red, of various shades, there may be a white stripe along the upper part of the body and a white muzzle. By the age of one and a half years, bulls gain live weight up to 450 kilograms, with a slaughter weight of 66%, which is higher than that of some other breeds of beef cattle. Producers reach body weights of up to 800-900 kilograms.
- Hereford. The breed was developed in England using the method of long-term selection of the meatiest individuals from local livestock. The color is red, the head, dewlap, and lower body are white. In Russia, sire bulls reach a live weight of up to 800 kilograms.