The Kostroma dairy and beef breed of cows has remained one of the best domestic cattle breeds for almost 80 years. Its main advantages are good milk yield, high fat and protein content in milk, rapid weight gain in young bulls whose products are used for meat, and high-quality leather from which shoes are made. The Kostroma breed is unpretentious, but there are features in its content that are worth considering in more detail.
History of the breed
Selection work on breeding cattle breeds began in the 1920s, when breeding farms were created throughout the country. One of the leading ones was the Karavaevo breeding farm in the Kostroma region. At the height of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the country was faced with the need to supply food to the front. The state leadership has set the task for scientists to accelerate the breeding of cattle breeds that have a range of advantages: high meat and dairy productivity, rapid weight gain in young animals, adaptability to cold, and a high degree of offspring survival.
A group of scientists from the Karavaevo breeding farm, which included S. I. Shteiman, V. A. Shaumyan, N. A. Gorsky, selected the best representatives of local cattle, well adapted to the climatic conditions of Central Russia, and carried out work on crossing it with Algauz , Swiss, Kostroma Miskan and Babaev breeds.
As a result, in 1944, a line with stable positive properties at the gene level was obtained. They named her Kostromskaya. In 1945, the breed was officially registered and recommended for breeding in the Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Ivanovo regions, as well as in Belarus.
Characteristics
The description of the breed is given based on external characteristics (exterior) and productive qualities. Let's take a closer look at them.
Appearance
Cattle of the Kostroma breed are distinguished by a strong body constitution. The direction of production is dairy and meat. The exterior standards of the Kostroma breed are given in the table.
| Exterior indicator | Description |
| 1) Mass of the cow
Bull mass |
average – 600 kg, maximum – 850 kg;
average – 1200 kg, maximum – 1500 kg. |
| 2) Coat color | Gray, fawn, dark gray, gray-brown |
| 3) Body shape | Elongated |
| 4) Back | Wide, strong |
| 5) Chest | Powerful, well developed |
| 6) Head | Medium, small forehead, ruffled tuft of fur on the forehead |
| 7) Udder | Large size, regular cup-shaped, cylindrical lobes, nipples at equal distance from each other |
 Legs |
Middle length |
Animals of the Kostroma breed are resistant to all major diseases, almost do not suffer from leukemia, and tolerate the weather conditions of central Russia well.
Productivity
Cows of the Kostroma breed produce, on average, up to 5 thousand liters of milk per year. The maximum achieved milk productivity was 16 thousand liters of milk per year. Milk fat content is 3.8-4 percent, protein content is 3.3-4.0 percent. Milk productivity lasts until 20-22 years of age. Meat productivity is the yield of meat at slaughter at the level of 60-70 percent. At the age of 6 months, the average weight of bull calves is 170 kilograms, at 1 year 6 months - 500 kilograms.
Main pros and cons
The Kostroma breed has significantly more advantages than disadvantages. The breed is suitable for small and medium-sized farms.
Maintenance and care
When keeping the Kostroma breed, it is impossible to allow livestock to be crowded. In small farms it is advisable to keep animals without a leash.
Summer playground
In the summer, livestock are driven to natural pastures. For the Kostroma breed, it is important to follow the feeding and watering regime. A watering hole is arranged approximately in the middle of the pasture. The breed tolerates the transition from one type of feeding to another without developing digestive problems. However, in the fall it is recommended to reduce walking time gradually.
On large farms, animals are provided with an area outside, on the south side of the farm building. The area of the summer area is calculated based on the standard for keeping cows - 8 square meters per head. Part of the site should be under a canopy from the summer heat. The drinking bowls are made of material that is easy to clean. The site is provided with a slope towards a pipe for collecting and discharging wastewater into a sump.
Arrangement of the premises
It is advisable to make farm buildings or barns made of brick or from new materials, for example, sandwich panels. Since the breed is cold-resistant, heating of the farms may not be used, but it is provided in the design in case of a frosty winter. According to housing standards, dairy cows require an area of 1.72 to 2.3 square meters.
Straw, sawdust or peat are used as bedding. The bedding is changed daily. The amount of straw for bedding is 5 kg per animal per day.
Conditions of detention
The temperature in the barn in winter should not fall below 10 degrees Celsius. The optimal relative air humidity is no higher than 75%, otherwise outbreaks of viral diseases are possible. In addition, when keeping cows, it is important to maintain the air circulation rate in the room:
- in spring, winter and autumn - 0.5 meters per second;
- in summer - 1.0 meters per second.
On large farms, it is important to monitor the concentration of toxic gases in the barn: carbon dioxide - no more than 0.2 percent, ammonia - no more than 10 milligrams per cubic meter of air, traces of hydrogen sulfide are acceptable.
Regular cleaning of stalls and equipment
To avoid the development of infections, the floor in the stalls is cleaned daily using scraper equipment; manure can be washed off with a powerful stream of water into a special ditch - a manure receptacle. On small farms, the litter is cleaned out with shovels and transported using wheelbarrows to a special site for storing manure. Lay out new bedding. Drinkers and feeders are washed daily with laundry soap.
What are the specifics of feeding?
In summer, animals need succulent grass; they get it by free grazing. In winter, the main part of the feed is coarse bulk feed: hay of legumes or cereal-legume grasses. Vegetables are added to the food: boiled potatoes, fodder beets, pumpkin, carrots.
Are there any difficulties in breeding?
Heifers should not be allowed to be bred before the age of 15 months. Heifers should have their first calves no earlier than 2 years of age, otherwise their milk yield will not be high. Heifers are born weighing 28-33 kilograms, bulls - 25-30 kilograms.
Diseases and prevention
Vaccines have been developed against dangerous diseases - foot-and-mouth disease, anthrax, rabies, which can be transmitted to people. Vaccinations are mandatory according to the generally accepted calendar. Other diseases that are possible when keeping cows are diagnosed based on tests. Each cow must have a passport of vaccinations and registration of previous diseases.
At the Karavaevo breeding farm, work is underway with 14 selection lines - improvements to the Kostroma breed. New hereditary lines of Kostroma cows are promising for breeding - lettuce KTSK 83, karo KTSK 101, strongman KTSK 84. Kostroma cows themselves do not lose popularity for keeping in rural areas; according to reviews, their milk is the most delicious.
