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One of the most dairy breeds, which has already begun to win points against the famous Friesian cattle, is the Ayrshire cow. Farmers now prefer these animals because of their high milk yield, longevity and trouble-free calving.
Ayrshirok homeland is considered the County of Eyre in Scotland. The first mentions of this breed appeared before 1800, but at that time the Ayrshirok was called "Dunlop". Later the name was changed to "Cunningham". As a result, the name "Ayrshire" was assigned to the breed.
Which representatives of cattle were used in the breeding of the Ayrshire cow is not known for certain to anyone. But theories do exist, of course.
Ayrshire breed history
According to one version, to improve local cattle, Shorthorns, Jersey, Hereford, Tiswater and Alderney breed were imported to Scotland. And in the last third of the 18th century, Dutch cows were also added. True, not black and piebald, but brown and brown piebald. As a result of this mixing, the modern Ayrshire breed arose.
According to the second version, the Ayrshire breed of cows originated in Holland. And it is unlikely that English historians studying the emergence of cattle breeds will be able to dissuade them from this. In 1750, they were crossed with some other breed of cattle, from which the Ayrshirs got their red color.
In 1814, the breed was registered with the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS) and from that moment its modern history began.
Due to their unpretentiousness, high quality milk, productive longevity and easy calving, Ayrshirs have gained popularity not only in Scotland and England, but all over the world. At the beginning of the 19th century, Ayrshire cattle were taken to the United States. And in the 20th Airshire could already be seen in many European countries.
At one time, Frisian (Holstein) black and white cattle became widespread due to the large volumes of milk produced. But with impressive volumes, the fat content of this milk is very low. The protein content in milk is also low. Holstein milk is watery and almost without cream.
Ayrshirs, on the other hand, are almost not inferior to friezes in volumes, but they produce more fatty milk. Because of this, today the opposite trend has already emerged: the gradual replacement of friezes with airshers. The Ayrshire breed, in addition to its homeland, is actively cultivated in Australia, Finland, New Zealand, South Africa and many other countries. It is easy to see that this breed of cattle is common in countries with very different climatic conditions. Airshirok breeding is carried out everywhere in order to increase milk yield without losing milk quality.
Description of the Ayrshire breed
Ayrshirs are medium sized cattle with a usual weight of 540 kg. Some representatives of this breed of cattle can reach 600 kg. The weight of the bull is 800 kg. The growth of Ayrshire cattle is small. Usually up to 130 cm.
Ayrshire cows have an ideal exterior for dairy cattle: light bones, deep chest, graceful head, proportional build and thin skin. The sacrum is straight. The legs are short and well set. The udder is medium in size.
The color of Ayrshire cattle is red and piebald. Color options for red spots can be from light red to dark brown. Depending on how the genes responsible for the piebald color have been shuffled, the color of individual cows may be dominated by red or white.
The difference between a hornless animal and a dehydrated animal is that the dehydrated animal is burned almost immediately after birth the place from which the horns will grow. If the Ayrshire calf is not cauterized, it will grow beautiful horns up to 30 cm long in adulthood.
The photo shows the head of an Ayrshire cow without horns.
What happens if calves are not deformed in time?
Fortunately for the farmers, the Ayrshire breed already has hornless lines. Still, cauterization of the horns is a rather complicated and dangerous process for the health of the calf. But horniness has its advantages.
Pros and cons of horned and hornless animals
The advantage of hornless ones is that they are safer not only for humans, but also for relatives. Not only bulls, but even cows fight among cattle, arguing for a place on the hierarchical ladder in the herd. With horns, a cow can pierce an opponent's belly or udder. Horned ones are calmer on their own and even during a fight will not be able to inflict serious damage on their relatives.
In horned cows, the horns determine how many times the cow has calved. With each pregnancy, a "snatch" or "ring" forms on the cow's horns. Since the cow must calve every year, the rings can be used to accurately determine the age of the animal. 2 years are added to the number of rings, since it is at this age that the heifer happens for the first time.
This point must be taken into account when determining the age of an adult cow.
When buying a heifer up to 1.5 years old, age is determined by the length of the horns. In calves, horns appear at the age of 1 month, and each month they increase in length by 1 cm. By measuring the horns and adding 1, you can determine the age of the calf in months.
In hornless and degraded cows, age is determined by the teeth. But erasure of teeth is not a very reliable sign, since it largely depends on the hardness of the enamel on the teeth of a particular animal and the feed that the cow ate. Therefore, it can only be guaranteed to say that an animal is an adult if it has 24 molars and 8 incisors on the lower jaw in its oral cavity.
By the age of 16, only yellow thin hemp remains in place of the incisors. By the age of 17-18, the remains of the incisors also fall out.
The productive characteristics of the Ayrshire
In Australia, Finland, England and other countries, more than 9000 liters of milk are received from the Ayrshires per year. In Russia, the indicators are traditionally lower: 5-7 thousand liters. This situation is observed not only with Ayrshirs, but with all breeds of cattle. Previously, this could be attributed to poor maintenance and theft. Today farmers work for themselves and many of them try to farm according to Western technologies. But milk yield is still lower.
Nevertheless, in Russian farms, work is also underway to increase the milk yield of airshirks. When breeding work, they use not only their own producers, but also Finnish ones through artificial insemination. In addition, the Russian standards allow the bleeding of red Swedish and red Danish cattle as related breeds. The breeding material of the Canadian Ayrshire population is also used. Thanks to all these measures, the milk yield of one of the Russian types of Ayrshire breed, bred in the Novoladozhskoye farm, has already reached more than 8000 liters. Milk per year.
But the quality of the milk is really very good. Fat content 4.2%, the amount of protein in milk 3.5%.
The Ayrshire breed was bred for milk, not meat. Although individual bulls of the Ayrshire breed can weigh 1000 kg, the slaughter yield of meat from the carcass is 50 - 55%.
How to choose a cow
Since Ayrshire cows are bought for milk production, you need to know certain signs of high milk production of a particular cow. The "dairy" exterior does not always guarantee a good milk yield of the cow.
If the exterior of the cow matches the dairy type, further inspection can be continued. The animal must be healthy.A healthy cow has a smooth soft coat, a hard walk. The eyes are clear. Well-being is noticeable in behavior. The suffering animal will stand despondently, reacting poorly to stimuli.
Age is determined by horns or teeth. When deciding with age, you need to remember that when buying a heifer, you can only guess about her future milk yield, relying on information about the productivity of her mother. When buying an adult cow, it is better not to take an animal older than 10 years. After this age, the milk yield of the cow begins to decline.
The udder of a good dairy cow should be bowl-shaped and well developed. A very large udder hanging below the hock is not an advantage, but a disadvantage. A cow hurts such an udder on bushes, dry grass stalks and other debris.
A high-quality udder is bowl-shaped, wide, attached high at the back and protruding far forward, smoothly merging into the abdominal wall. The bottom of the udder is almost horizontal and is located at the level of the hock.
"Goat" udder from behind looks like a triangle. The nipples are drawn together, long and thick.
Another characteristic of a high-yield cow is the good development of the so-called milk vein.
The photo shows an Ayrshire cow with signs of high productivity: a bowl-shaped udder and a well-developed milk vein.
Reviews of the owners of the Ayrshire breed cows
Conclusion
Ayrshire breed - the golden mean between rare in Russia Jersey cows and Holstein. Ayrshire breed is good for those who want to get a large amount of milk with high fat content. In addition, the Jersey breed is very expensive and the higher quality of milk does not compensate for the cost of purchasing it.
