The Ayrshire breed of cows is the most common dairy breed in the world. Despite the general “Holsteinization” of dairy cattle in recent decades, ayrshire confidently hold a leading position in the dairy market. This is not only a highly productive animal, but also an excellent example of breeding work of breeders from the point of view of aesthetics: proportional, graceful, with large magnificent lyre-shaped horns with a flirty bend back and amazingly beautiful animal eyes.
Breed history
Ayrshire breed of cows (photo in the article) was officially recognized as an independent population in the early 19th century. In 1877, the first stud book appeared. It got its name from the Scottish county of Ayr. Several cattle breeds took part in the creation of the Ayrshirs: Dutch, Alderney, Flemish, and Tswater. These animals improved the local livestock by repeated blood flow. The main influence was provided by representatives of the Dutch breed.
The Ayrshire breed of cows was very widespread in Finland. It was introduced in 1845, and since 1901 a tribal association of ayrshirs was organized in Finland. The cows adapted perfectly to the northern conditions and became the predominant Finnish breed.
Animals of the Finnish lines are distinguished by high milk yield and milk fat. This is the highest milking animal population in the world. In the class with a 100,000 kg lifelong milk yield, more than 2,000 cows are entered, and in the 150,000 class more than 30 animals are recorded. The fat content of milk is on average 4.28%.
Description of animals
Ayrshire breed of cows has its own distinctive features. Animals can be described as follows:
- proportionally folded cows, characteristic milk type;
- correctly set, strong limbs;
- oblique body length - up to 159 cm;
- deep chest;
- height at the withers - 120-125 cm;
- metacarpal circumference on average 17.5 cm;
- cup-shaped udder, with uniform lobes and widely set nipples of medium length;
- light elegant, slightly elongated head in the front part;
- large lyre-shaped horns (today there are lines of hornless cows, there is a practice of burning horns in calves);
- a thin neck with small folds (a sign of milkiness in cows);
- the color is red-motley, and both white and red color from light red to dark, almost brown, can predominate;
- the hair is delicate, the skin is elastic and thin;
- average live weight of cows - up to 500 kg, bulls - up to 850 kg.
Milk quality
There are several signs of milk quality and productivity by which the Ayrshire breed of cows stands out. Their characteristic is as follows:
- milk is perfect for making cheese and butter;
- average milk yield reaches up to 4,000 kg per lactation (this is the global average);
- fat content of milk is not lower than 3.8%, but not higher than 4.4%;
- low content of somatic cells ;
- protein content - up to 3.8%.
Milk of excellent quality is widely used in the production of baby food. Up to 11 thousand kg of milk is infused from record cows during the lactation period (duration is 305 days). The breed is considered the most balanced and cost-effective in dairy farming.
Advantages over other breeds
When choosing animals for dairy cattle breeding , the Ayrshire breed of cows is preferred. The characteristics of its advantages over other breeds are as follows:
- milk yield stability;
- unpretentiousness in the content;
- quick adaptation to new conditions of detention;
- active temperament, allowing you to quickly accustom animals to machine milking;
- the ability of cows to calve without assistance;
- high efficiency of feed digestion;
- excellent health;
- early cows, they are inseminated at the age of 15 months;
- the breed can be used as an enhancer;
- the average daily growth of young animals is up to 850 grams;
- the yield of meat in adult animals is up to 55%, and when fattening it reaches 60%;
- long milk production of cows.
The exceptional qualities of animals allowed to win the favor of many milk producers from industrial giants to private farms.
Many small farmers in herds with a small livestock contain Ayrshire breed of cows. Reviews about them are only positive and always in superlative degree: the most milked, the most unpretentious, the most beautiful, the smartest and so on.
Record lifelong milk yield was recorded in a cow at the age of 21 years. For all years, 128 tons of milk were received from her.
Breed breeding halo
Ayrshire breed of cows distributed around the world. The ability to quickly get used to the new conditions of detention contributed to its spread from Scotland to Australia and New Zealand. Ayrshirov can be found in North and South America, Africa and the Middle East.
To preserve and further develop red breeds of cattle, which are based on ayrshire, and to avoid close inbreeding, the pedigree farms of the northern countries - Finland, Sweden and Denmark - joined the international organization VikingGenetics and developed the Red Viking program (VikingRed). The main task is the improvement of dairy cattle and providing breeders with first-class genetic material.