Contents
At the beginning of the XNUMXth century, the laurels of Count Orlov haunted many large landowners. Most of them rushed to buy cattle and horses in the hope of also breeding a new breed and becoming famous. But without knowledge, natural instinct and a systematic approach, no one has succeeded. In addition to the landowner Boris Makarovich Bestuzhev, who lived in the village of Repyevka, Syzran district. Bestuzhev had the same talents as Count Orlov, providing his neighbors with high quality horses from his stable. But he did not follow the same path as Orlov, but took up breeding a new breed of cattle: his “own” Bestuzhev cow. And the landowner, like Count Orlov, really managed to leave his mark on history.
The origin of the Bestuzhev breed of cows
At the end of the XNUMXth century, Bestuzhev brought from Europe meat shorthorns, Dutch dairy cattle and the Simmental meat and dairy breed. By crossing cattle imported from abroad with local cattle and carefully selecting the resulting hybrids for productivity, Bestuzhev obtained a large, unpretentious and disease-resistant new breed of cattle.
Such a policy allowed the landowner, not possessing the huge fortune of Orlov, to nevertheless breed his own breed. Taking into account the peasant livestock, the Bestuzhev breeding herd in terms of the number of heads could be even larger than the Oryol herds.
The bred breed quickly gained popularity in the Middle Volga region. Shortly before the revolution, in 1910, the breeding stock from Bestuzhev was purchased by the provincial zemstvo for breeding at their own experimental stations.
Description of the Bestuzhev breed of cows
Nevertheless, serious work with the breed began in 1918 after the organization of breeding farms in the Middle Volga region. In 1928 the first volume of the State Stud Book was published. The main herd of the Bestuzhev breed of cows is still concentrated in the Middle Volga region and in 1990 totaled almost 1 million individuals.
The number of Bestuzhev cows is still heterogeneous. The main type of Bestuzhev breed is dairy and meat. There are also animals of dairy and meat-and-milk directions.
The cattle are large and have a strong constitution. Height at the withers 130 – 135 cm, oblique length 154 – 159 cm. Stretch index 118. Metacarpal girth 20 cm. Bone index 15. Chest girth 194.
The head is of medium size, proportional to the body. Lightweight and dry. The front part is elongated, the ganaches are wide, the forehead is narrow. Horns are white.
The photo clearly shows the shape of the head of the Bestuzhev cow.
The neck is of medium length and thickness. The skin on the neck is folded. The chest is deep, with prominent dewlap.
The topline is uneven. The withers are low, almost merging with the back. The back and loin are straight and wide. The cross is raised. The croup is long and straight. The legs are short, with the correct set. The udder is round, medium in size. Shares are evenly developed. The nipples are cylindrical.
The disadvantages of the exterior include a rare drooping.
Thanks to the requirements of the landowner, today the Bestuzhev breed of cows has only a red color, in which only small white marks are allowed. Shades of color vary from light red to brown (cherry).
Productive characteristics of the Bestuzhev breed of cows
Meat characteristics of Bestuzhev cattle are quite high. The live weight of animals in different sources varies greatly. Sometimes they indicate that the weight of an adult cow can reach up to 800 kg, and a bull up to 1200 kg. But, most likely, it is a crossbred cattle. Data in the GPC indicate a significantly lower weight: a cow 480 – 560, the largest individuals 710 kg; bulls 790 – 950, maximum 1000 kg. With such a relatively small weight, Bestuzhev calves are born large: 30 – 34 kg. With abundant feeding, the average daily weight gain of bulls is 700 – 850 g. In six months, calves weigh 155 – 180 kg. By the age of one year, bulls reach a weight of 500 kg. From a well-fed bull-calf, the slaughter yield of meat is 58 – 60%. The average is 54 – 59%.
Milk productivity is not as high as we would like, and there is still work to be done in this direction. In elite breeding herds, the average milk yield is 4,3 tons per year with a fat content of 4%. In a commercial herd, the average productivity is 3 tons per year with a fat content of 3,8 – 4%. With full feeding in a breeding farm in the Kuibyshev region, it was possible to get an average of 5,5 tons of milk from cows. The best cows gave 7 tons. The fat content of milk ranged from 3,8%. Record holders gave more than 10 tons of milk per lactation. In the sperm bank you can buy doses of semen from bulls whose mothers had a productivity of 5 – 8 tons of milk with a fat content of 4 – 5,2%.
Advantages of the Bestuzhev breed of cows
For animal husbandry, the Bestuzhev breed of cows is valuable for its unpretentiousness and resistance to diseases, especially to leukemia and tuberculosis. There are also practically no congenital anomalies in the breed, such as a “goat” udder, X-shaped set of legs or spread. The advantage of the breed is its good adaptability to the conditions of the Middle Volga region and the ability to easily gain weight.
Reviews of the owners of the Bestuzhev breed of cows
Conclusion
As before the revolution, the Bestuzhev breed of cows is ideal for keeping rural residents in private farmsteads. A small amount of milk compared to industrial breeds of cows is compensated by its high fat content. In addition, you can get a calf from a cow every year, which by the fall on free grass will gain about 200 kg of live weight. That is, for the winter there will be at least 100 kg of free beef.