Holstein breed of cows

Most often, cattle are kept in agricultural farms for milk production.

Naturally, this is not the only purpose for which this cattle can be kept, but it is the most profitable and stable. In human life, dairy products are part of the daily diet, in addition with the dairy products important trace elements enter the human body.

In ancient times, these animals were more appreciated than they are now, but even nowadays people are breeding them. Therefore, in this article you will read about such a breed of cows as Holstein or as it is also called Holstein-Friesian.

The main qualities and characteristics of the Holstein breed of cows

Before we begin to describe this breed, we will tell you its story. The homeland of this cattle is Holland. But she gained her greatest popularity and high qualities in such countries as America and Canada.

The first who began to breed Holstein cows became Winsrop Chenery. The history of the breed in America is as follows: W. Cheneri, back in 1852, bought a Dutch cow from the captain of a ship from the Netherlands. Because of its high productive characteristics, this breed has become very common in North America.

Unlike European countries in America and Canada, a lot of attention was paid to the breeding of black-and-white breeds, breeders tried to improve the breed.

In March of 1871, a special society for the breeding of the Holstein-Friesian breed was established. U.Chenery became the head of this society. And after a year of this organization’s activities, the Holstein breed was bred in twelve states, and in the same year, 1872, the first book about the Holstein-Friesian breed was published. Just Holstein breed began to be called from 1983.

The direction of development of this breed is dairy.

After a long time of work, breeders managed to get a breed that is distinguished by its size, weight, constitution, and also to increase the productivity of the breed. In more detail about all this you will read below.

At this time Holstein breed is the most famous breed in America and Canada, as well as in Europe.

How to find the Holstein breed and not make a mistake when buying?

The most common Holstein cows are black and variegated, with black spots of various sizes.But there are rare species of almost black color, but still there is white on the tail, legs, in the lower part of the body and near the head. There are still cows of the described breed of red-motley color, but to see them is a great rarity.

The main species differences of the breed and its size:

• The average mass of one individual of an adult heifer is from 600 to 700 kg, but it is possible that these data may increase if there is a livestock in good conditions.
• The height of an adult cow at the withers is 143 centimeters.
• The average weight of one adult bull reaches 1200 kg, but this is not the limit when kept in secured conditions.
• The height of the bulls is not much different from the height of the chicks and is about 160 cm.
• The weight of a small cow varies from 38 to 43 kg, and the average weight of a newborn bull is 47 kg.
• Holstein breed can be distinguished from others by a significantly deep chest, its size is from 82 to 87 cm.
• The average size of the chest width of Holstein breed varies from 62 to 66 cm.
• The body size in the back varies from 60 to 63 centimeters. This part of the body is long, straight and wide enough.
• The breed's constitution is strong enough.

The Holstein-Friesian breed is far ahead of its black-and-white relatives in live weight, productivity, size of the udder, body build and many other indicators.

Unlike other offspring, the Holstein breed in conditions of good content can show an increase in productivity, and this breed also realizes itself quite well on various dairy complexes not only abroad, but also in our country.

What udder have golshtinskih cows

Since we are talking about the dairy type of cows, an integral part of this article is the description of the udder of the cow.

The shape of the udder of a Holstein cow is bath-shaped and cupped. It is characterized by a large volume. The udder is wide and very well attached to the abdominal wall.

The udder index ranges from 38.5 to 61.3 percent.

On average, milk yield per cow per day, with double milking, reaches 65 kilograms, but this is not the limit.

The average speed of lactation is from 3.20 to 3.50 kilograms per minute.

The cows of the described breed are well adapted to milking with the help of machines.

Advantages and disadvantages

Positive aspects of the content of Holstein breed:

• The Holstein breed is the record holder for milk production. The largest milk yield per cow for 305 days was in 1983 and amounted to more than 25 tons.
• The Holstein breed is precocious and well fertilized. By age, cows and a half years, its weight is 360 kg and can already be inseminated.
• The positive side of this breed is the use of its genotype in the improvement of the black-and-white breed.
• Holstein cows are very energetic, which very well affects their productivity.
• The breed adapts very well to changing weather conditions.
• The positive side of the breed is its high average daily gain.
• This breed of cows is the most famous all over the world.
• They are resistant to diseases.

Weaknesses of this breed:

• Cows of the described breed are very sensitive to stressful situations, which then may not have a very good effect on productivity.
• Before buying this breed you should pay attention to the whimsicalness of the breed in everyday life. This breed is very clean, it needs constant hygiene, not complying with these requirements, cows are susceptible to infections.
• Another unfavorable side of this breed is its whimsicalness to food. In winter, they must be fed with legumes, corn and soybean meal. And in the summer, they need high-quality green food.
• If you want to save, then this breed is better not to buy, because it is not economical in terms of nutrition and maintenance.

The main indicators of productivity and fertility of the Holsteins

In terms of milk yield for this breed, there is almost no equal. For more than a hundred years, this breed has been the first in milk production In addition, the Burenka record holder give milk of good fat.

The average productivity is about 9000 kg of milk, 336 kg of fat and 295 kg of protein.

The fertility of this breed is also good and amounts to 83-90 calves per 100 females.

The meat characteristics of the breed are quite good. Slaughter yield is 50-55 percent.

For many years of breeding of this breed, a lot of cows of record recorders were revealed: in America for the year of lactation, 27430 kilograms of milk were obtained from the cow Rein Mark Zinh. In the same country from the cows Linda 28735 kg of milk.

A distinctive factor of this breed is a high percentage of lean meat.

Positive aspects of breeding the breed:

• • A plus is an easy calving of a cow. Cows in 91% of cases do not need human assistance.
• • A positive characteristic of the fertility of a breed is its precocity.