Content
At the beginning of the 19th century, Count Orlov’s laurels 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 achieved success. 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 tread the same rut as Orlov, but began to breed a new breed of cattle: his “own” Bestuzhev cow. And the landowner, like Count Orlov, really managed to leave his mark on history.
Origin of the Bestuzhev breed of cows
At the end of the 18th century, Bestuzhev brought meat shorthorns, Dutch dairy cattle and Simmental breed meat and dairy direction. By crossing cattle imported from abroad with local cattle and carefully selecting the resulting crosses for productivity, Bestuzhev obtained a large, unpretentious and disease-resistant new breed of cattle.
This policy allowed the landowner, without possessing Orlov’s huge fortune, to still breed his own breed. Taking into account the peasant livestock, the Bestuzhev breeding herd could be even larger in number than the Oryol herds.
The bred breed quickly gained popularity in the Middle Volga region. Shortly before the revolution, in 1910, the provincial zemstvo purchased breeding stock from Bestuzhev for breeding at its 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 population of the Bestuzhev breed of cows is still concentrated in the Middle Volga region and in 1990 there were 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 dairy and meat-dairy animals.
The cattle are large in size and have a strong constitution. Height at withers 130 – 135 cm, oblique length 154 – 159 cm. Extension index 118. Pastern girth 20 cm. Boning index 15. Chest girth 194.
The head is medium in size, proportional to the body. It is light and dry. The front part is elongated, the ganaches are wide, the forehead is narrow. The 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 a prominent dewlap.
The topline is uneven. The withers are low, almost merging with the back. The back and lower back are flat and wide. The sacrum is raised. The croup is long and straight. The legs are short and well set. The udder is round and of medium size. The lobes are evenly developed.The nipples are cylindrical.
Disadvantages of the exterior include the rare pendulous rear.
Thanks to the requirements of the landowner, today the Bestuzhev breed of cows has only a red color, in which only small white markings are allowed. Color shades vary from light red to brown (cherry).
Productive characteristics of the Bestuzhev breed of cows
The meat characteristics of Bestuzhev cattle are quite high. The live weight of animals varies greatly between sources. 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, these are crossbred cattle. Data in the Civil Procedure Code indicate a significantly lower weight: cow 480 - 560, the largest individuals 710 kg; bulls 790 – 950, maximum 1000 kg. With such a relatively low weight, Bestuzhev calves are born large: 30 – 34 kg. With abundant feeding, the average daily weight gain of bull calves is 700 - 850 g. At six months, calves weigh 155 - 180 kg. By the age of one year, bull calves reach a weight of 500 kg. From a well-fed bull, the slaughter yield of meat is 58 - 60%. The average is 54 – 59%.
Milk productivity is not as high as we would like, and work in this direction still needs to be continued. 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 obtain an average of 5.5 tons of milk from cows. The best cows gave 7 tons. The fat content of the milk ranged from 3.8%. The record holders produced 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 Russian livestock farming, the Bestuzhev breed of cows is valuable for its unpretentiousness and resistance to diseases, especially leukemia and tuberculosis. The breed also has virtually no congenital anomalies such as “goat” udders, X-shaped legs or markings. 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 from owners of the Bestuzhev breed of cows
Conclusion
As before the revolution, the Bestuzhev breed of cows is ideal for keeping on the personal farmsteads of rural residents.The small amount of milk compared to industrial cow breeds is compensated by its high fat content. In addition, every year you can get a calf from a cow, which by the fall will gain about 200 kg of live weight on free grass. That is, there will be at least 100 kg of free beef for the winter.
