Characteristics and names of the best meat breeds of bulls, how to choose for fattening
Domestication of cattle happened in ancient times and, apparently, almost simultaneously. This explains the fact that in different parts of the world there are different variations of meat breeds of bulls, because the progenitors of tens, if not hundreds, of representatives of modern cattle began to domesticate. Some of them no longer exist, and the rest have become the basis for the development of the most famous breeds.
General characteristics
Historically, in the New World, the main livestock of gobies raised for meat production belongs to beef breeds, and in Europe, both dairy and meat and dairy cattle are used for these purposes.
Specialized domestic bulls have been purposefully bred over the past three hundred years. The purpose of this activity was to obtain cattle capable of increasing body weight as efficiently and quickly as possible when using feed characteristic of the animal habitat.
Despite the existing differences associated with the origin of gobies from various progenitors, they have common features:
- Massive, strong bones, rectangular body shape, broad chest, rounded hindquarters and hips.
- Significant dimensions.
- High productivity and productivity, early maturity.
- Fast weight gain.
- Unpretentiousness.
- Durable leather.
- Small udder.
Such traits are typical for cattle of most beef breeds of bulls, regardless of origin and habitat.
Bulls of British origin
These are the most common representatives of cattle, the first specimens of which were bred in Great Britain in the 18th century. Since this empire had many colonies in different parts of the world, the settlers brought with them livestock, which became the basis for breeding and selection of local livestock adapted to the climate and feed. The most popular cattle breeds of British origin, raised for fattening:
- Aberdeen Angus.
- Beefbuild.
- Galloway.
- Hereford.
- Devonian.
- Dexter.
- Lincoln.
- Longhorn.
- Sussex.
- Highland.
- Shorthorn.
The most famous breed is the Aberdeen Angus. She is divided into two subspecies depending on the color of the coat: black and red Aberdeen Angus.They are powerful animals with excellent taste characteristics of meat, suitable for obtaining a popular and expensive marble product.
French beef bull breeds
France also gave the world a lot of cattle, which is used in its "pure form" and as a base for further breeding:
- Limousin.
- Maine-anjou.
- Salerskaya.
- Charolais.
- Light Aquitaine.
Some French pedigree have the ability to gain weight well when kept in pastures. For example, Men-Ange cows are also called red meadow cows because of their color and ability to effectively use pasture forage.
Bulls of Central Asian origin
In this direction, the following meat breeds of bulls are popular:
- Kazakh, or Kyrgyz.
- Kazakh white-headed.
- Kalmyk.
- Gray Ukrainian.
Such animals are perfectly adapted to living conditions in Central Asia and the steppe and desert regions of Russia and the republics of Central Asia. They are very large, reaching 900-1000 kilograms. Cows regularly bring calves, and breeding bulls interbreed with other breeds, improving their gene pool.
Russian breeds
In the Russian Federation, many different bulls are raised for meat, and most of them are adapted variations of the most popular representatives of foreign breeding cattle. At the same time, cows of both Western and Asian breeds are used, which are better than others adapted to the conditions of the country.
In Russia, dairy and meat-and-dairy cows are often bred, many of which are bred by Russian breeders, and some of them are originally local, with long-standing roots. Also popular are mixed-use cows obtained by hybridizing animals of various imported breeds.
For example, the famous animals of the Kostroma breed were obtained by Soviet breeders by crossing local cattle with Swiss and Algauz bulls.
The rating of meat breeds of domestic breeding bulls is headed by the Russian komola. They are large black animals without horns, strong legs and thin skin. They are excellent for harsh climates, have excellent health, quickly gain weight, while providing expensive marbled meat. Cows weigh over 500 kilograms and bulls can reach a ton.
How to choose the right one
If a new beef breed of bulls is chosen for breeding, it is necessary to take into account, first of all, its adaptability to the climatic conditions in which the animals will live. Many varieties, which have proven themselves well in warm climates, begin to hurt in harsh conditions, do not gain weight, as expected, reproduce poorly.
The same applies to the requirements for feed and pasture, for example, cows accustomed to the mild conditions and abundant feed of the plains are not suitable for growing in mountainous areas with sparse vegetation.
When purchasing livestock for meat, it is necessary to select young, strong and healthy animals. They have tender, soft flesh devoid of coarse fibers and a minimum amount of fat, which makes such meat healthy. It is better to choose bulls for slaughter because cows have less body weight. Buying a bull for meat will be more profitable.
Subtleties of content
In order for a bull calf farm to be profitable, two factors must be achieved:
- Supply of at least 85-90 calves per 100 mature cows ready for breeding. If the calf yield is below 85 per hundred mothers, then the farm will be unprofitable.
- Intensive fattening of calves and culled animals that are not suitable for livestock reproduction. In order to reduce costs and production costs, a low-cost intensive pasture feeding technology is used.Under her, in the summer, animals are kept on pastures, and in winter they are transferred to feeding with roughage.
It is not profitable for the enterprise to keep the animal for too long before slaughter and send bull calves for meat until it reaches 450-500 kilograms (weight depends on the breed). Therefore, when raising beef breeds of bulls, a combined method is used that combines extensive and intensive methods.
After weaning from the cow, until the calf reaches 300-350 kilograms, inexpensive bulk feed is used, causing accelerated saturation. In this case, the weight gain will not exceed 750 grams per day. At the final stage of fattening, which lasts from 120 to 1810 days, intensive feeding is carried out, in which the weight gain should reach 1000 grams in 24 hours. If the beef breed of bulls is chosen correctly and the method of feeding is correct, the agricultural producer will profit and consumers will benefit from healthy beef.
