Yaroslavl breed of cows
The Russian Yaroslavl breed of cows gained popularity among domestic farmers, thanks to their productivity in the 19th century, when, with the growth and development of large cities in Russia, the demand for livestock products increased, which contributed to its introduction into a separate line.
Yaroslavl breed of cows
About Yaroslavl cows
With the emergence of butter and cheese-making industries in the domestic industry in the 80s of the XIX century, there was an urgent need to obtain high quality products. To this end, the dairy associations of Russia carried out a laborious and lengthy selection of representatives of cattle in order to develop a species that would firmly take a leading position in animal husbandry in terms of milk yield and fat content.
When breeding Yaroslavl cows, Holstein, Algauz and Simmental individuals participated in the crossing, but their further use was discontinued due to a decrease in the fat content of products obtained from the offspring.
The main progenitor of the Yaroslavl breed of cows was the local northern Great Russian cattle, from which the best specimens were selected for reproduction. At the same time, the exterior was of no small importance in breeding.
By the 80s of the last century, the described breed of cows had the disadvantages of its appearance to a minimum, when the Holstein bull became a participant in the crossing, as a result of which the Mikhailovskaya branch of cows appeared.
Since the Soviet era, cattle breeding farms not only in Yaroslavl, but also in Ivanovo, Vologda, Kostroma and Tyumen began to establish cattle of the Yaroslavl breed in Russia. The Yaroslavl bull became an active participant in the reproduction of the Kostroma and Istoben animals.
External signs of cows from Yaroslavl
The characteristic of the Yaroslavl breed of cows describes these animals as individuals of the dairy type with a slightly angular constitution of the physique and poorly developed muscles:
- the bull grows to 1.25-1.27 m at the withers with an oblique length of 1.52-1.55 m,
- animals have a residually developed skeleton with a dry head, which differs from many representatives of cattle in an elongated face,
- poorly developed dewlap in a deep (about 0.7 m), but narrow (up to 0.37 m) chest,
- thin low limbs,
- the rear part is wide, drooping with a roof-like sacrum.
The dairy type of cattle determines the structure of the milking machine of the animal. The udder of a Yaroslavl cow has a bowl-shaped shape, equipped with long nipples, widely spaced in front and behind closely spaced, moderately developed milk veins.
Judging by the photos of the first representatives of the breed, the modern bull from Yaroslavl is not very similar to the pre-revolutionary progenitors, who were small in stature and did not differ in special health.
The color of the animals in the photo is predominantly black with a white head. A characteristic feature is the so-called "glasses" - the eye rings. In nature, there is also a red color of representatives of cattle from Yaroslavl.
Productive characteristic
The Yaroslavl cow recorded high average indicators of meat and dairy productivity.
Meat yield
The average weight of grown bulls ranges from 0.7 to 0.9 tons, in rare cases reaching up to 1.2 tons. The weight of heifers varies between 0.45 and 0.55 tons. Newborn calves weigh approximately 25-30 kg, gaining by the age of six months, 150-170 kg, daily showing an increase of 700-750 g. When the calves reach one-year-old age, their body weight varies from 0.35 to 0.37 tons, gaining 800-900 g every day. Yaroslavl bull to 1, 5 years old gain weight up to half a ton, heifers - 0.35-0.38 tons. With such indicators, the slaughter yield, which is given by one representative of cattle from Yaroslavl, is in the range of 50-62% with satisfactory quality characteristics of meat.
Milk productivity
The leading breeding cows recorded an annual average milk yield of up to 5.0-5.5 thousand kg of milk with a fat content of 4.0 to 4.2%. At the same time, in the Ivanovo region, a cow of the Yaroslavl breed produced 11.59 thousand kg per year. Animals of average parameters are guaranteed to provide average milk yield from 2.7 to 3.5 thousand kg of dairy products. Among the highest indicators of the content of the fat component, figures of 6.1% were noted. The content of the protein component in Yaroslavl cows is in the range of 3.5-3.7%. The products from the cattle breed from Yaroslavl have their own advantages: taste and nutritional value.
Breeding attractiveness
Today the number of cattle from Yaroslavl is sharply reduced. This is due to the appearance in domestic and foreign livestock breeding of updated breeding lines, which prevail over the Yaroslavl cows in terms of higher milk yields.
The largest number of livestock can be noted in the homeland of these animals, as well as in Tver, Ivanovo and Vologda. The total number of Russian regions that are engaged in breeding Yaroslavl cows is 7 regions.
Among the main advantages of Yaroslavl animals, domestic farmers note:
- high indicators of milk quality,
- good reproduction of offspring - during the reproductive period, Yaroslavl calves from 1 to 5 are born,
- adaptation to new conditions of detention and nutrition.
Not distinguished by large dimensions and not gaining large mass, the Yaroslavl breed of cows does not require a lot of feed, but with a meager diet, it provides large volumes of fat milk, which allows livestock breeders to get the greatest profit at the lowest cost.