Aberdeen Angus breed: description and characteristics, breeding and care
Among beef cattle, representatives of the Aberdeen Angus breed stand out. Their main feature is meat with thin fatty layers, called marbled. It is appreciated all over the world by those who love gourmet meat delicacies. Consider the description and productive characteristics of the breed, the conditions of detention and the rules of feeding and breeding features.
Origin and distribution
Aberdeen Angus cattle was obtained in the highlands of Scotland. The ancestors of the representatives of the breed were local black-coloured cattle. The beginning of work with the breed falls on the second half of the 18th century, registration took place a little later - in 1873
During this time, it was possible to improve the exterior of bulls and cows, the yield of meat and its quality, the animals became precocious. Early maturity and excellent quality meat are the main qualities of the breed, for which it is kept in breeding farms.
Which countries grow Aberdeen Angus
After the successful breeding of the Aberdeen breed in their homeland, they began to export it to Europe and North America. Today, Aberdeen Angus bulls and cows are raised in breeding farms in the USA and Canada, Russia (Kaluga and Voronezh regions) and the CIS, Australia and New Zealand, Argentina. They are bred for their distinctively flavored marbled beef, 80% Black Angus.
Description and characteristics of the Aberdeen Angus breed
Cows of the Aberdeen breed are built according to the meat type. The animals are compact, low, 116-118 cm at the withers. They have a small head, a short muzzle, a short but large neck. The body is rectangular, muscular, even withers, back, voluminous chest.Legs are short and strong. The skin is thin, loose, with pronounced subcutaneous tissue. The color of the coat is pure black, when crossing Aberdeen Angus individuals with other breeds, calves inherit black color and polled.
Calves are born with a weight of 22-28 kg, but grow quickly, by half a year bulls can weigh 150-180 kg. The increase per day in cows is 1 kg. In adulthood, cows weigh 500-550 kg, bulls - 750-950 kg, fattening males fatten up to 1 ton of weight. The slaughter yield of meat is 60-70%, such a high figure is due to the fact that the bones of cows are thin. The meat of Aberdeen Angus cows is tender, with thin fibers and layers of fat. The milk productivity of cows is low - up to 1.7 thousand liters, a lot of milk goes to feed the calves.
Disadvantages and advantages over other breeds
The disadvantages of the breed are not significant, so the Aberdeen Angus cattle is recognized as one of the best varieties of cattle for industrial breeding.
Subtleties of maintenance and care
Aberdeen is characterized by good adaptability, so they can be grown without creating special conditions for them. Cows can live in temperate, cold and hot climates. Only humidity has a negative effect on animals. If well managed, they can make do with open grazing without compromising productivity.
In winter, especially in cold regions, they need to be kept in a warm barn, just not kept outside.
Recommended free keeping of bulls so that they can freely approach feed and drinkers. Animals should go for a walk every day and spend time on the walking area. Proper diet and moderate physical activity keep animals he althy and fatten quickly.
Features of the character of Aberdeen Angus cows dictate the rules for handling them. Animals love communication, they need to be taught to contact with people, lack of training leads to the fact that animals become wayward and aggressive.
Meeting plan
Calves are kept with their mothers, due to natural nutrition they grow quickly and rarely get sick, they acquire natural immunity along with milk. Gradually, they are transferred to adult food, feeding with grain, mixed fodder, fresh grass, premixes are added to food. Animals are given fresh clean water.
Adult cows are fed with grass, grain, in winter they are given hay, silage, grain chaff or are fed on compound feed. Give mineral supplements.
But there is a special scheme for fattening on wet corn, which makes it possible to obtain premium quality marbled meat. Aberdeen Angus cows are fattened according to an intensive scheme, which gives an average daily weight gain of 1-2 kg. Fattening lasts 6 months. It is important that the animals do not overeat, when they overfeed they get fat. If this happens, you need to immediately review the diet, as the quality of future beef will suffer.
Individuals are selected for fattening, which will not replace animals in the breeding herd. At 8 months old, at weaning age, they can weigh 200-230 kg. The best quality meat can be obtained from castrated bulls. Castration is carried out at an early age. As a result of the operation, the structure of muscle fibers changes, they become thinner. But the advantages of castration are not only this, bulls can be pastured next to cows, there is no need to allocate pasture for them.
The weight gain of 1 kg of weight of an Aberdeen Angus cow is 6.5 feed. units, that is, 6.5 kg of oats or 32 kg of fresh grass from the meadows or 13 kg of hay of medium nutritional value. Slaughter is carried out at the age of 18 months. In practice, it has been proven that in animals older than this age, weight gain does not increase, but stabilizes. In older cows, the quality of meat deteriorates, it becomes coarser.
Maize fattening allows you to get meat of impeccable quality. Beef is used for cooking steaks, cutlets, barbecue and other meat products. Aberdeen meat is soft, juicy, with perfect structure.
Breeding
Despite the fact that the breed is known for the fact that cows can adapt to different climates, you should try to buy calves that have grown as close as possible to where they will live. Then they will endure transportation and change of conditions with almost no stress.
Aberdeen Angus heifers are ready for breeding at 15 months, but it is not worth rushing to have them at this age, their body is not yet fully formed. Pregnancy will stop the development of the cow itself, the offspring will be small, weak and painful. Thanks to medium-sized newborns, calving is easy, without complications, the cow does not need help, she copes with everything herself.Representatives of the breed give birth to 1, less often 2 calves.
Like calves of other varieties, they need colostrum and mother's care immediately after birth. Babies can be left with a cow, the breed does not belong to the dairy, the calf drinks almost all the milk.
Purebred individuals have the most pronounced characteristics inherent in the breed, therefore, to obtain the famous marbled beef, it is recommended to keep thoroughbred individuals. If this is not possible, crossbreeds are bred with other breeds of cattle. They receive valuable qualities from their Aberdeen Angus parent and acquire new ones, are distinguished by good he alth, vitality and live longer if used in breeding. This property of the breed is used to breed new promising breeds of cows.
Diseases
The Aberdeen Angus breed is characterized by genetic diseases, they are especially common in purebred individuals, since their carriers are recessive genes. Crossbreeds with other breeds do not get sick. Carriers of defective genes can be identified using a DNA test.
Black Angus diseases:
- Multiple arthrogryposis. It manifests itself in serious birth defects and deformities of the joints, lesions of tendons, muscles and ligaments in calves. The disease is detected in meat and dairy breeds of cattle and causes significant damage to livestock. Calves have reduced joint mobility, leg muscles are weakened or atrophied.
- Neuropathic hydrocephalus. Angus are born with a large deformed head.
- Contracture arachnodactyly. Newborn calves have reduced hip mobility.
- Dwarfism.
Gobies and heifers with genetic diseases are always culled and not allowed to breed so that defective genes are not inherited.Aberdeen Angus cows can suffer from infectious and other diseases of cattle, but when the norms of rearing and being in good conditions, they rarely get sick. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the cleanliness of the premises where animals are kept, the cleanliness of pastures and walking areas, feeders, carry out vaccinations and scheduled veterinary examinations.
Aberdeen Angus cattle can be bred on farms and private farms to obtain beef of a special structure and excellent quality. Animals are quickly fattened on a special diet, the slaughter yield of meat is at a high level.
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