The Aubrac cow breed (from the French Aubrac - monastery in France) was bred to produce milk, meat, and also as a labor force when performing field work and as traction force. Today the breed has meat value. The animals are resistant to changes in temperature and climate, digest different types of roughage well, are known for their longevity and endurance, and their unique appearance will not allow them to be confused with another breed.
Anatomical characteristics and description of Aubrac cows
Animals of the Aubrac breed, as a rule, have a light brown color, light spots on the limbs and face. The tail and nose are often dark.This cattle is very undemanding and does well in hard-to-reach areas. They have hair that allows them to withstand severe temperature changes without complications. A large amount of solid food is allowed in the diet - Abracs digest it well.
Anatomical characteristics - corresponding to appearance. The body is highly muscled, but compact. The inseminating bull is with a hump. The head is not very large, characterized by a concave profile. Body: the loin and back are relatively wide, the back and front parts are well developed. The limbs are strong and placed correctly. The height at the withers is 1.3 meters, the weight of a born bull is up to 50 kilograms, a cow is up to 750 kilograms, a bull is up to 1.1 tons. Slaughter age is from 16 to 20 months. High reproductive capacity and milkiness.
Advantages and disadvantages of the breed
With all its positive aspects, there is also a minus - aggressiveness, but only if it poses a threat to your calf or yourself during pregnancy.
Maintenance, care and feeding
For breeding, a stall, stall-pasture or stall-pasture housing system is selected. It is optimal to maintain the temperature and humidity conditions in the room: when the temperature increases by more than 25 degrees, productivity drops significantly. In summer, daily walks are necessary, during which it is necessary to ventilate the stalls - excess humidity and carbon dioxide will go away.
Dairy cows require care in the form of cleaning the skin from dirt and parasites, this also increases the overall tone of the body and improves appetite. Cleaning should be done away from the power source. A scraper and brush are required, and soap if necessary.
Feeding the abracs is organized in the form of 2-3 meals per day. Due to the meat orientation of cattle, it is worth planning a balanced and most nutritious feeding: green grass, silage, vegetables and fruits, cereals and legumes, ripe root vegetables, concentrated feed (bran, compound feed), fertilizing (salt and additives). In spring, serious vitamin deficiency is possible; prevention and elimination - vitamins in food and injections.
Breeding Features
For breeding, bulls aged 8 months are best suited, cows – 1 year old. Mating too late or too early can lead to problems such as weak offspring, painful childbirth, and loss of milk.
It is important to pay attention to the physiological cycle of a cow, which consists of 4 stages:
- Estrus: The cow's body shows its readiness by secreting mucus.
- Excitement: attraction of a cow to a bull, which may result in refusal of food and mooing.
- Heat: the cow's genitals swell and turn red, which lasts up to 2 days, at which time mating should be carried out immediately.
- Ovulation: begins after 10 hours.
Copulation has no peculiarities. The methods are similar to those used for other breeds and types of cattle. Representatives of the Aubrac breed, as a rule, do everything on their own, and the bulls do not injure the cows.To improve the breed, it is optimal to replace bulls in the herd once every 2-3 months.
Also practice artificial insemination of cows, which also helps refresh the blood without critical material costs.
What are they sick with?
Diseases of Abrakes, like other cows, can be non-infectious and infectious. Non-infectious ones lead to the death of only one cow. Caused by poor care and improper maintenance. Infectious diseases can destroy an entire herd. Certain diseases are transmitted to humans. This - cowpox, brucellosis, foot and mouth disease, rabies, leukemia, tuberculosis and actominosis. For any incomprehensible symptoms, a consultation and examination by a veterinarian is necessary.
