Since ancient times, the cow has occupied an important place in household. She was called “darling” and “nurse”. She supplied the family with milk and was an indispensable helper in the fields - in the past there were even special working breeds.

Animal history

The cow is one of the first domesticated animals. Man domesticated it almost 9,000 years ago, after goats, sheep and pigs. The oldest traces of cattle breeding were discovered in the Middle East - the modern territory of Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Iraq. The ancestor of the cow is considered to be the now extinct wild bull, the aurochs. And the relatives of the cow are bison, buffalo, yaks and zebu.

The cow belongs to the ruminant suborder. People enjoy all the benefits it provides. Man began to receive meat, milk, cheese, butter and much more from cows.

From one to five cows, keeping them will not be difficult. It is necessary to have a pasture with grass; for walking and feeding livestock, a small barn is quite suitable for sleeping and shelter from the cold. In the summer, immediately after the appearance of grass, the cow feeds well on her own on the pasture, but it is advisable to add silage to the feeding in order to increase milk yield, and straw and silage must be prepared for the winter.

Read about how to raise a calf .

Care

Cleanliness is necessary in the barn, otherwise the cow may get sick. So straw should be stored not only for feeding, but also to lay under the cow’s feet. It is necessary to remember about vaccinations against various diseases and contact a veterinarian. Also milk on time, since a cow that has not been milked can get mastitis and lose milk.

Breeding

Properly preparing a cow for calving means getting better milk yield and a healthy calf. And so, in the last two months of pregnancy, we rid the cow of juicy chews, such as grass or silage, and give her clean hay. You should also stop milking the animal in the last two months. This will increase milk yield. Under no circumstances should there be ice on the road of a pregnant cow, as she becomes clumsy and may lose her calf if she slips. By the way, these are frequent cases due to which the calf is lost.

Slaughter

In Russia, legislation prohibits slaughter without qualification and the animal has to be kept in special places for slaughter. But before this, the animal must be examined by a veterinarian. This slaughter procedure is even more profitable for the owners, since the meat can be sold immediately and the required amount can be taken for yourself. But of course, there are those who slaughter an animal simply in the yard, without even contacting a veterinarian. This threatens unhealthy meat, and it is prohibited by law.

Features of the animal

• The character of the cow is calm and balanced. Life expectancy is about 20 years. Pregnancy lasts about 300 days, and calves are born with a large weight - 20-40 kg.
• Animals do not distinguish colors, but have a keen sense of smell.
• The cow's stomach consists of four sections: rumen, mesh, book and abomasum. This structure allows the animal to digest a large number of vegetable fiber;
• Cattle have a number of special diseases, sometimes incurable;
• Domestic cows are subject to mandatory .

Cow breeds

Now all cow breeds are divided into 3 groups:

• - dairy;
• - meat;
• - combined (or meat and dairy).

There used to be working breeds, but now they are no longer found in their pure form.

The oldest breed of cows is the Dutch. In Russia, 36 dairy and meat and dairy breeds and 12 meat breeds are bred.

Dairy

Dairy breeds have narrow and light bones and thin skin. The udder of the breeds is voluminous, with well-defined lobes. They are well adapted to both pasture and stall keeping. The oldest representatives of dairy breeds are Kholmogory cows. The breeds of this group include Holstein, Yaroslavl, Kholmogory, Tagil, Brown Latvian and Red Steppe.

Meat

Beef cows have wide, heavy bones, well-developed muscle tissue, a wide neck and an underdeveloped but voluminous udder. They are precocious and characterized by accelerated development. These breeds have been bred for over 300 years. There are two main breeds in this group: Hereford and Aberdeen Angus. Other breeds are Charolais, Limousin, Santa Gertrude, Kian, Galloway and Kazakh Whitehead

Combined (meat-dairy or milk-meat)

Cows have good health, endurance and differ from breeds of other groups in their versatility. The Simmental breed was previously used as draft power. This is the largest group. It includes the red Tambov, red Gorbatov, Shorthorn, Kostroma, Bestuzhev, Simmental, Swiss and Kurgan breeds.

• Dwarf cows are widespread in India - there are about 30 breeds. The height of these cows does not exceed 1 meter.
• In Scotland, mini-cows are bred - the Highland beef breed. In addition to their small stature, they have thick, long hair and long horns.
• In Belgium, a Belgian blue cow was bred for meat - it can weigh up to 1 ton, and it looks like it never left the gym.

There are still indigenous breeds of cows. These are breeds in which humans did not participate. These include the Yakut, Buryat, Ukrainian gray steppe and Siberian breeds.

Cow vaccination

The issue of cow vaccination should be taken very seriously, because are one of the main producers of the products that we eat. The main aspect in this area is not protecting the health of animals, but protecting and caring for the health of people who eat animal products.

Mandatory vaccination of animals

Prevent meat and milk from sick animals from entering trading network and diseases dangerous to health can be prevented by timely vaccination and animal testing. Research is being conducted for leukemia and brucellosis.

Vaccination against rabies, anthrax, foot-and-mouth disease, as well as infectious diseases. There is an opinion that it is better to purchase products from private traders who do not vaccinate, since they are environmentally friendly. However, it is not. Private farmers, as well as owners of livestock farms, are required to carry out preventive measures, such as vaccination and pathology tests.

Types and purposes of vaccines and doses

• The Taurus vaccine has a fairly large range against various infectious diseases, such as rhinotracheitis (RTI), viral diarrhea (VD), parainfluenza-3 (PG-3) and leptospirosis.
• Combovac, Bovilis BVD are vaccines against infectious rhinotracheitis, parainfluenza-3, viral diarrhea, respiratory incytial, rota and coronavirus infections.
• The associated vaccine is a polyvalent vaccine containing strains of anthrax and foot-and-mouth disease.
• Trichostav is a polyvalent vaccine for the prevention of trichophytosis and fungal diseases of the skin.
• Nobivac is a polyvalent rabies vaccine. There are also polyvalent vaccines and serums for separate species diseases.

Age of cows when testing for infectious diseases is carried out

• 2 months – tests for tuberculosis (tuberculization) are carried out;
• 4 months – brucellosis is examined;
• 6 months – leukemia.

After the cow has begun lactation, it is necessary to conduct tests twice a year for brucellosis and tuberculosis.

At what age is routine vaccination carried out?

Vaccination begins in calves from an early age, since clustral immunity (this is the mother’s immunity), which is transmitted through milk, works for a fairly short period.

Complex monovalent vaccines:

• calves should be vaccinated from 1.5 months of age with a revaccination interval of 3 weeks.
• 6 months – one-time vaccination, at this age revaccination is not required.
• Annual vaccination is required, and these activities are done 2 weeks before insemination.

Polyvalent vaccines:

• From 1.5 to 6 months – vaccination against rabies, foot-and-mouth disease, anthrax, salmonellosis (with a revaccination interval of 8–12 days), colibacillosis (booster vaccination after 2 weeks), trichophytosis.
• Animals older than 12 months – emphysematous carbuncle, foot and mouth disease, rabies, anthrax, theileriosis, pasteurellosis, brucellosis.
• Annual vaccination of adult heifers is carried out 2–3 weeks before insemination.

It is not possible to use livestock products immediately after vaccination; some types of vaccines have their own deadlines established by Rosselkhoznadzor and Vetsanekspertiza, but if you give an approximate time when you can already consume milk and slaughter livestock, it is approximately 21–28 days.

Dear readers! We present to your attention a chapter of the book by our regular author, the head of the blog “ MOIP says...", Professor of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov Anatoly Sadchikov. The book has the working title “The Tale of a Little Neanderthal” and is being completed. As the author himself says, it is difficult to say whether it will work out, whether there will be enough skill and patience to finish it, and most importantly, whether it will be interesting to the reader. This will become known only upon its completion. But we decided to publish one of the chapters that we found interesting.

This story happened several tens of thousands of years ago. Most likely, in the vast expanses of the Middle East, where the biotopes of Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons (our immediate ancestors) regularly intersected. The book tells about primitive people who lived in those distant times, their way of life, and, of course, love. Even when people wore skins, lived in caves, hunted mammoths, they fell in love and sometimes committed rash acts because of love. Primitive girls also preened themselves, put on makeup, and flirted with young men. Fifteen types of paints that women used to make themselves attractive have survived to this day.

People in those distant times were not much different from us. They also loved their children and, at times, sacrificed their lives for them. Women loved their men, and they loved their wives. It could not have been otherwise, because men were the fathers of their children, breadwinners and protectors. In those difficult times, only the well-being of the family and the well-being of fellow tribesmen made it possible for a person to survive. Love for loved ones has never been a burden to a person, neither now nor in those distant times.

Man became human not only because he adapted to walk on two legs and learned to make tools. He became a man thanks to his love for his neighbors, and not only for his family members, but also for his fellow tribesmen. Even wild animals, for example, a wolf and a she-wolf, are touching towards each other and their wolf cubs. Primitive people respected older people, who were a source of knowledge for tribe members.

Man became a man, and that is why he developed a craving for beauty and the joy of creativity. He began to express his feelings in the form of rock paintings, sculptural images, and this was not done by “professional artists”, but by the most ordinary people. From a very early age, our children draw, sculpt, listen to and sing songs with pleasure. This internal property of man ultimately contributed to the further development of various crafts.

Only rock paintings and clay images have survived to this day, but there were so many other types of creativity that have not survived! The figurines of women were most likely images of wives and beloved girls, and not some incomprehensible “goddesses.” They were made, again, not by “professional sculptors,” but by ordinary hunters, who took them with them on hunts and looked at them in moments of relaxation, remembering their relatives. Some did better, some did worse, but that hardly made them less loved by their owners. This is no different from the photographs of our loved ones that we carry with us or keep on our desks in our offices.

Man became man because he began to use fire. Fire is warmth, primarily for children and the elderly. Thanks to the warmth, the number of colds has decreased, and, accordingly, child mortality and the mortality of the elderly have decreased. After all, these two categories of people, most exposed to various risks, need special care. An increase in the number of species (including primitive man) is associated with a decrease in child mortality and an increase in adult life expectancy. Old people are a special category. They have always been a source of knowledge, a storehouse of wisdom, educators of their grandchildren. And now between grandchildren and grandfathers there are often warmer and trusting relationship than between children and parents.

The fire contributed to the unification of the team. Around the fire, people exchanged opinions and talked about their successes. The fire united people and removed aggressive moods. Let's remember our gatherings around the fires or fireplaces.

The main character of the story is a boy, later a young man and an adult man. He was the son of a Neanderthal woman and a Cro-Magnon father, our direct ancestor (actually different species of people). They met and fell in love. In nature, different species of animals do not interbreed. To prevent this from happening, there are many restrictions: physiological, morphological, behavioral, geographical. He is a man to do crazy things, as a result of which they had a son.

Scientists continue to debate whether Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons married each other and whether their children were viable, although skeletons of such hybrids have been repeatedly found. IN Lately There is information that you and I have a small number of Neanderthal genes (about 5%). This indicates that Neanderthals are not extinct, they are partly us.

The boy had to endure many hardships and difficulties in life. He lost his parents, lived alone, and was constantly on the verge of death. The qualities that he received from his father and mother helped him survive in difficult conditions and take a worthy place in life. His mother gave him one of them best qualities Neanderthals are devotion and self-sacrifice for the sake of family, friends and fellow tribesmen. The second quality he acquired from his parents is the ability to learn.

For the sake of his friend, the dog, the boy had to leave the tribe. To save her life, he fled with her. A person could not survive alone in those difficult times, especially a child, but he survived. The dog was his faithful friend. However, again, kindness and self-sacrifice helped him in everything. Thanks to these qualities, the boy managed to tame a bull and a cow, who became his friends. He took care of a dying old man, and he became a mentor for the boy, helping him, teaching him the wisdom of life.

The boy grew up, became a young man, a successful hunter. He returned to the tribe from which he had once left in order to marry the girl with whom he played in his distant childhood. It was she who warned the boy about the decision of the tribe elders to kill all the dogs (including him) that lived near their camp. He remembered the girl and thought about her all the time. The girl knew where the boy was hiding, but in order not to bring trouble to him, she did not tell anyone about it. She remembered him, and was mentally with him all this time. In his night dreams, she flew to him, watched his life, mentally helped him.

They grew up and became adults. The girl had been waiting for him all this time. She turned into a beautiful girl. The young people decided to get married, but her father, the tribal leader, had other plans. The leader wanted to unite several tribes through marriage. The young man was not part of his plans. He was alone, he had no one except his friends - a dog, a bull and an old man. But love and friendship always win. It was so in those distant times, and so it is now.

Of course, there is a lot of fiction in the book, that’s why it is a work of fiction, where the author has the right to dream up a little.

BOY AND COW. WHO TAMED WHOM?

The process of domestication of large animals, such as bulls and cows, proceeded, as in the case of the dog, through the gradual formation of a close union between man and ancestor domestic cow– half-forest bull-tour. In those days, the tour lived in the temperate zone of Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, and North Africa. It was hunted by driven hunters, and quite successfully. About 10 thousand years ago, hunters became so skilled at catching aurochs that they could not kill them in front of the herd, and if they did it, it looked like a tournament between two rival individuals. Cave paintings show that the fight between a man and a bull was somewhat reminiscent of the Spanish bullfight, which in most cases ended in victory for the man.

The wild bull lived in the steppes and forests, where it ate rough food: in summer time– grass, branches, shoots, leaves of bushes and small trees. In winter, he migrated to the forests, where he switched to feeding on twig food, lichens, gnawed bark, ate dry grass, tearing snow with his hooves.

These were powerful animals with a muscular body, a height at the withers of up to 180 cm and a weight of bulls up to 800 kg. Females were slightly smaller, 300-500 kg. The bulls had a large and high-set head, crowned with long and sharp horns. Such a head is necessary for feeding on roughage. After all, in order to chew branches, you need a powerful chewing apparatus. The horns were directed slightly forward and to the side. They are good for repelling predators that attack from below, such as wolves. The legs of the bulls were of moderate length, indicating that the aurochs did not make long marches.

The color of adult bulls was black, with a narrow light “belt” along the back, while females and young animals were reddish-brown.

They lived in small herds led by a huge bull and several younger bulls. In the summer, young males and large bulls lived separately from the herd and only during the mating season and in winter they united with everyone, which allowed them to more effectively defend themselves from attacks by predators. The aurochs had few natural enemies; male bulls could cope with any predator, of course, with the exception of humans, who successfully hunted them. Wolves mainly hunted young, newborn and sick animals, especially in winter, with deep snow. When attacked by a pack of wolves, the bulls organized a perimeter defense, inside which were females and young animals. Even the largest pack of wolves did not dare to break through such defenses and rush inside the circle.

The mating season was in the fall; males in tournaments sometimes fought until they bled, thus identifying the leader. Calves were born in the spring, in April-May, when grass was already appearing. Shortly before calving, the females retired into the thicket of the forest or dense bush and remained there until the calf became stronger. After which they returned to the herd again. Such newborn calves were most often hunted by wolves. In some cases, they were able to snatch a calf from a young and inexperienced mother. Some wolves distracted the mother's attention, while others attacked the calf. In a large herd this was much more difficult to do, because Powerful bulls and adult females always came to the rescue.

In addition, wolves successfully hunted sick animals (wounded or affected by infectious diseases). Wolves determined the presence of such animals by their appearance and began to pursue the herd. There is evidence that predators can detect the presence of sick animals by smell, which smell completely different from healthy ones. They drove the herd until the sick animal weakened and fell behind. Then they dealt with him. However, there was a certain ecological meaning to this. Wolves removed sick animals from the herd, thereby eliminating the source of the spread of infection.

What was the close union of man and wild animals? To better understand, let's start a little from afar. Each herd had its own territory of several tens of square kilometers. The area of ​​the territory may be larger or smaller, depending on the amount of vegetation on it and the productivity of the territory. The better the soil and the more grass that grew on it, the less territory the animals required.

Animals in their territory had natural routes along which they moved. This allowed the grass to regrow after being eaten or trampled by animals. Let's pay attention to the herd of domestic animals. They never eat the grass completely. Animals are always on the move. This allows the grass to grow. The excrement (dung) that animals left behind was used by caprophagous beetles (dung beetles) for feeding or hatching larvae. The minerals were eventually returned to the soil and reused by the plants. As a result, the circle closed.

People wandered behind the herd, not allowing predators and other hunters to pursue it. For “their work” they took tribute from the animals in kind, and they made sure that the killing did not take place in front of the herd. For this purpose, special techniques were developed, depicted in ancient rock paintings. For a herd of bulls, a person gradually became the same symbiont as, for example, the union of antelopes or zebras with ostriches. Antelopes and zebras graze next to ostriches and monitor their behavior. Ostriches have long necks and excellent eyesight. They notice an approaching predator from afar and warn everyone of the danger. Another example. Hyenas constantly watch the vultures soaring in the air. From above you can clearly see everything around you. As soon as they notice carrion, they begin to circle around it. The hyenas immediately rush to that place in order to have time to take part in the feast.

If a person behaves peacefully in the herd, the calves born will be less and less afraid of the person with each generation. A calf in its infancy imprints in its memory not only the members of its herd, but also the person who is among the cows and bulls. And the bulls will perceive him as an ally in the fight against predators and in the search for good pastures. This is how, most likely, nomadic tribes of people were formed, who later became cattle breeders.

Approximately the same thing can be observed among some northern peoples - reindeer herders. The main task of reindeer herders is to protect the herd from wolves and search for the best pastures. Otherwise, the animals are left to their own devices. Desert nomads do not feed camels, and do not even graze them. They dig wells and bring water to the surface, thereby expanding camels' access to natural desert pastures.

At first, people and aurochs roamed along the paths of traditional animal migration routes. Later, people apparently learned to control the movement of the herd, which allowed them to explore new spaces and rich pastures. It is assumed that in this way people with their bulls migrated to the Middle East, and then to North Africa. The latter was captured in thousands of rock paintings in the Sahara, which, due to the dry climate, brought to us the life and lifestyle of nomadic pastoralists.

This herd of bulls and cows lived not far from the boy’s home. He often saw them, mostly from afar, because... he was afraid to approach huge bulls, which he could only reach up to the stomach. After all, the length of some bulls reached three meters, and the height at the withers - up to two meters. The herd moved in a circle, appearing from time to time in the area where the boy usually hunted small animals.

It should be noted that the animals did not just wander around the steppe wherever their eyes looked. They had their own trails, places where animals fed, rested, bathed in “dust” baths or fought in tournaments. They used huge trees or rocks to tidy up their bodies. Animals periodically scratched themselves against them, leaving their smell and scraps of fur. Because of this, the bark of trees and the surface of rocks became smooth and polished. Every morning the animals went to a watering hole, where they waded knee-deep into the water and slowly drank it. In the hot summer, they entered the shallow waters of the lakes up to their waists, enjoying the coolness. The bulls marked their territory, left marks, and their scent. For this they used large trees and stones where they scratched themselves. Puddles of urine, soil dug up by powerful hooves, all this meant that the territory was occupied, and other bulls were strictly prohibited from entering it.

The boy several times saw a herd of animals grazing in the distance, not daring to approach them. One day their paths crossed. A herd of bulls and cows with calves came out of a small grove. They moved slowly across the steppe, periodically tearing off the tops of the grass. The boy, without moving, stood literally ten steps from the herd. He was hypnotized. It was both fear and admiration for these animals, they were so huge. The herd emanated a smell characteristic of bulls and cows. The boy had a good sense of smell, sensed them from afar, could easily run away and hide, but the herd, like a magnet, attracted him, hypnotized him with its appearance and power.

The herd paid no attention to the boy. Only the leader stopped, looked sideways at him and moved on. The boy was so small and did not pose much of a danger to them.

The boy saw these animals up close for the first time, and they seemed so majestic to him that they evoked inner awe. The boy's father brought meat from these bulls from the hunt. The boy had already eaten it, but they were pieces of meat, and here in front of him was a huge creature. At that moment, the desire did not arise in his mind that these bulls could be eaten.

He stood and was silent. The herd slowly passed by. A small teenage calf came out of the herd and headed towards the boy, lowering his head with his horns making their way through. He wanted to play and show his strength at the same time. The boy hit him with all his might with the stick he was holding in his hand. The calf jumped to the side, as it did not expect such agility from a small creature. The herd paid no attention to the incident. They were not interested in the children's play.

The herd has left. Soon a young cow, lagging behind the herd, appeared. She moaned pitifully, constantly looked around, looking for someone. The swollen udder indicated that she had a calf, which she had recently lost. She may have given birth to a stillborn baby, which sometimes happens with young cows. Perhaps it was repulsed by wolves, who attack young animals in the spring, most often newborns. Be that as it may, the calf was not near the cow, and she suffered greatly from this.

The cow approached the boy, sniffed him and began to lick him. At first the boy was very frightened, but the rough tongue tickled so pleasantly that he began to laugh. He laughed so joyfully and serenely for the first time since the death of his mother, and this happened a very long time ago. He felt pleasant, fun and ticklish. At that moment he felt the warmth of his mother, namely his mother, not the cow. Then, in a fit of emotional feelings, he hugged the cow and began to kiss and lick her tenderly. He was hugging a cow, and in front of him stood the image of his mother with red hair. The smell and presence of a cow gave the boy a feeling of security. The boy began to cry, these were tears of joy from having found his mother, about whom he had suffered and been sad so much. They stood like that for several minutes. I would like to point out, dear reader, that the smell of cows and a barn does not evoke a feeling of disgust in us; most likely, it seems pleasant to us. Isn't this from here?

The boy's feelings were conveyed to the cow. She freed her head and pushed him under her stomach, as if offering her milk. Her udder was swollen and painful. The boy was hungry and wanted to eat. Not understanding what was happening, he clung to the nipples and began to greedily drink milk. The boy experienced great satisfaction, and not only from the pleasant taste of the milk. He felt great bliss that he had found his mother who was feeding him. Having had enough, he hugged the cow again and began to cry. The cow was also happy that she had found her “calf.”

The dog sat to the side and looked at them knowingly. The boy called her over to introduce her to his mother. At another time the cow would have angrily driven her away, but this time she sniffed it knowingly, because it was her son’s friend.

The cow later became for the boy a nurse, a second mother, and the boy for the cow became her baby, a “calf.” The cow took into account the negative experience of losing a calf, so she did not let anyone near the boy.

A similar thing is happening now. Research by scientists has shown that if the baby is taken away from a female who has given birth for the first time and begins to suckle, her parental instinctive feelings switch to the suckling. In the future, she will not only not attack the adopted child, but will also begin to care for him, feed him, lick him, and protect him.

Each of us can probably remember many similar cases. A report once appeared in the press that in the Kaluga region, foresters saw a mother bear with her cubs wandering through the forest along with a calf. In Bulgaria, game wardens observed an unusual family consisting of wolves and a wild boar. It turned out that the pig even lived in their lair. So it is unlikely that bears and wolves raised a heifer and a wild boar in order to subsequently eat them. In all such cases, animals treat their adopted children with amazing tenderness. Children grow up and live their own lives, but attachment to their parents remains for many years.

There are many examples of animals of one species feeding the young of another. There are especially many such cases in zoos when mothers, for one reason or another, abandon their children. Therefore, zoo workers have to look for a foster mother, who is most often a dog or cat.

Having fed her adopted child, the cow followed the herd. She no longer roared, no longer looked for the lost calf, she found it. The boy was received in the pack quite calmly; one might say, they were not surprised by the two-legged creature, especially since the cow, when the aggressive intentions of the herd members showed, zealously defended him. Each member of the herd, including the huge bulls, approached the boy and sniffed him for a long time. After all, he had his own smell, different from the smell of the herd, a “bouquet” of human smell with the smell of the skin that served him as clothing, the smell of a dog and fire smoke. They accepted the boy into the herd, and had to get to know him, first of all, imprint his smell in their memory. After all, in most animals the sense of smell is better developed than hearing and, even more so, vision.

Having satisfied their curiosity, the cows and bulls began to go about their business. So the boy remained in the herd. Nobody drove the dog away or attacked it, especially since at first it did not leave the boy and the cow.

The herd spent the night in a small grove, which protected it from prying eyes. The cows and calves were located in the middle of the herd, and the bulls - along the periphery, and they lay down so as to see the entire space. The cows and calves were resting, and the bulls were on guard all the time.

The cow found a dry grassy area and lay down. The baby sat down next to her, he pressed himself against her warm body and fell into a peaceful sleep, for the first time in all the time he was alone. He did not sleep so peacefully even in his cave. The dog was lying nearby, a little to the side. For the first time in for a long time slept separately from the boy. Over time, she got used to the cow, and the three of them lay there, keeping each other warm.

The herd woke up early. First of all, the cow licked the boy's face and hands, then gave him milk. The boy was blissful. How good it is to be with a mother who will always feed, warm and protect from troubles! It was easy and fun for him, he was happy that he had found a family and his mother. The desire of a baby, a child to find a family is a subconscious feeling of all living things, including people.

Then he collected a bunch of dry and hard grass, crushed it and began to rub the sides of the cow with a kind of brush. She stood there without moving, she felt so pleased. After all, it is customary for animals to provide such services to each other. Cows and bulls often lick each other, thereby massaging certain parts of the body, especially bruised areas. Our cats and dogs are delighted when we pet and scratch them. In addition, animals love to scratch their bodies on trees or rocks.

So the boy became a member of the herd of bulls and cows. Adult animals did not offend him, even when he came too close to them. He played chase with young calves, ran after them or, on the contrary, ran away from them. This continued until the mother cows called the babies to them to feed them. The boy besieged the violently angry calves with a blow or a wave of a stick. The calves were large, so any careless push on their part would knock the light boy to the ground. The calves quickly understood what this wave meant, and it immediately brought them to their senses.

The boy cleaned the body of not only his mother cow, but also other cows, including powerful bulls. Some animals themselves came up to him and offered their sides and backs. The animals were especially annoyed by all kinds of ticks, horseflies and other bloodsuckers. Bodfly larvae were under the skin, causing unpleasant itching. Many animals have spines embedded in their bodies, and quite large ones at that. The boy took them out with his fingers and teeth, and lubricated the wounds with saliva. He unraveled the wool and removed the burrs that hung in clusters on some of the animals.

To prevent bloodsucking insects from bothering the animals, after the inspection procedure, he rubbed the bodies of cows and bulls with wormwood, chamomile, tansy, mint and other fragrant herbs. Their smell repelled these insects.

Animals liked such procedures, especially since they were natural for them. Bulls and cows regularly scratched themselves against the trunks of large trees and licked each other. But the boy did it more effectively, he destroyed bloodsuckers in places inaccessible to the animal, scratched them where they could not reach with their tongue, and treated small wounds and abrasions. Therefore, the animals were not afraid of his touches and procedures, which were sometimes painful for them.

The boy enjoyed being on the back of the bulls, so when he finished his work, he continued to sit or lie on the huge back. Some animals allowed him such liberties. Sitting on the back of a bull, the boy surveyed the expanses of the steppe.

Sometimes the boy specifically climbed onto the backs of large bulls. He pretended to inspect the bull's body, then climbed on its back and scratched it with a makeshift brush. Then he lay on his powerful back, exposing his body to the sun's rays and wind. It was an incomparable pleasure to sit on the back of a mighty bull and feel how his strength passes into you. This is probably the first time in human history that a wild animal allowed a person to ride it. When the bull got tired of his rider, he threw him off and moved on. The offended boy went to his mother cow, who began to lick and feed him.

The fact that the bulls allowed the boy to ride them was not surprising, because V natural conditions some birds often “ride” large animals. Birds often perch on the backs of grazing cows or sheep and wait for insects to fly out from under their hooves. Then the birds deal with them. Sometimes you can see buffalo grazing with herons sitting on their backs. They peck at insects that annoy powerful animals. And outwardly it seems that the birds are “riding” on buffaloes. Buffalo starlings constantly follow or sit on herds of grazing buffalo, cows, camels, elephants, rhinoceroses, antelope and other large animals (hence their name). They peck at blood-engorged ticks and the larvae of various gadflies that hide under the skin of the animal. Starlings peck horseflies from all parts of the body, including the stomach. Animals treat these birds with true friendliness and allow them to do their thing without brushing them aside.

Despite his young age, the boy understood that the bull's back had a huge advantage. Here he is not afraid of wolves and other predatory animals; he can rest on his back and at the same time move around the steppe. Most importantly, with a herd of bulls and cows you can go into the waterless steppe over long distances, far from water bodies. The bulls always returned in the evening to drink. You can put several waterskins with water on the bull’s back, which the boy himself could hardly carry.

Some time has passed. The cow’s milk supply began to gradually decrease, because her real calf should have grown up by this time and switched to feeding on grass. Typically, cows feed their calves for no more than 5-6 months. The boy had to constantly think about his food. Therefore, he continued to collect tubers and rhizomes of plants, catch small animals, insects, mainly locusts - edible locusts, grasshoppers, fillies, which he ate alive or fried over a fire. He still caught gophers, marmots and all those who came across him. He caught lizards, snakes, birds and fried them over a fire. The dog was always nearby, always hunting with the boy.

The boy cooked food on a fire that was lit at the herd’s resting place. In the open steppe, there were no tree branches, so he used dung - dried cow dung - as fuel. Unlike tree branches and dry grass, they did not burn with a bright flame, but smoldered, giving off a lot of heat.

The cows, including his mother, did not come near the fire, they were afraid of it. Then they sniffed the boy for a long time, remembering this new smell for them. Gradually they began to get used to the fire and stopped being afraid, although they avoided it. The old bulls and cows knew the power of fire. During a thunderstorm, dry grass sometimes caught fire, and then all living things tried to hide from the scorching flame, although not everyone succeeded. Therefore, they avoided the fire that the boy was lighting.

One day the herd realized that fire in the hands of a boy could be a blessing for the herd. The boy lit a small fire on which he fried his food. Suddenly a pack of wolves appeared. At this time of year they did not attack the bulls; there was enough other food for them. After all, wolves feed not only on large animals, but also on rodents. They had no intention of attacking, but the bulls immediately formed a ring, lowered their heads, and prepared to defend themselves. The boy was not at a loss. Without hesitation, he grabbed a burning branch from the fire and rushed at the flock. They ran away in panic.

There was always a dog next to the boy. At first the herd avoided her, the bulls lowered their heads and drove her away, but then they got used to it and stopped paying attention. On cold nights, a boy and a dog slept together in an embrace next to a cow.

To please his mother cow, the boy dug up plant bulbs in the steppe and fed them to her and the mighty bulls. The bulbs were a delicacy for them.

The amount of grass in the steppe began to decrease and every day the herd moved further and further from the boy’s cave. Sooner or later the herd had to leave these places. Man, unlike bulls, cannot live under open air. When it rained, the skin with which he covered his body became wet, and sleeping like this on the bare ground was cold and unpleasant. Therefore, the boy had to leave the herd and return to his cave.

Parting with his mother cow was touching, the boy hugged the cow, and she licked his face. The boy was both happy and sad at the same time. The cow's rough tongue tickled his face pleasantly, which made him feel good. And parting with the cow, who was also his mother, tore his heart. He was afraid that he would never see her again. There was real drama in the boy's heart. He lost his real mother, then found an adopted one who truly loved him. Now he must break up with her again.

The herd left, but the boy remained. He often came to the place where animals usually grazed and looked into the distance for a long time where they had gone. Every time his heart ached, because a person cannot live alone, especially at such a young age. The herd was his family, his relatives, and his mother was in it.

When the boy lay in his cave, he tried to remember the face of his birth mother, and the image of a cow often appeared in front of him. He could no longer understand who he missed more, his own mother or the mother cow.

The herd left, but the faithful dog remained with him. She had children, her own dog affairs, but she never left the boy. To her, he was a member of her dog pack.

Cow is a female specimen of a domesticated subspecies of wild bull.

Male animals are called bulls, young animals are calves or heifers.

The lifespan of bulls is 15-20 years. But in large modern farms, a cow is usually used for only 3-4 years.

Cow body temperature, respiratory rate, pulse

The body temperature of a cow is 37.5-39.5 C. In young animals it is 38.5-40 C.
The respiratory rate of cows is 12-25. Young animals have 30-70 respiratory movements per minute.
Pulse 50-80 beats per minute. Young animals have 120-160 beats per minute.

Feeding a cow

Drinking modes

The water content in a cow's body is 60%. An animal can live no more than 4-8 days without water, while without food it can last 30-40 days. The water temperature for watering adult cows should be no lower than 10-12 C, and for young animals 15-30 C, therefore, when watering animals on the street, it is necessary to install heated drinking bowls, or pour warm water into the troughs and ensure that its temperature was in a comfortable range.

The optimal regimen for watering cows when using automatic drinkers is considered to be 12-21 times of watering in small portions. Individual and group drinking bowls are commercially produced. Individual drinking bowls are suitable for tethered housing. Group drinking bowls are used for free-stall and stall-camp pasture housing. When using group drinking bowls, care should be taken to ensure that the drinking front per cow is at least 60 cm.

In the absence of automatic drinkers, cows are watered 3 times a day. Animals drink most readily immediately after milking or feeding.

Every minute a cow's body loses up to 0.6 grams in milk. protein, 0.66 g. fat and 0.8 g. lactose. Such intense loads require timely replenishment of losses with good quality balanced feed.

A high-milk cow should receive about 30 kg. feed per day. The use of group feeders requires providing cows with a feeding front 70-80 cm wide for each.

Cow diet

The diet of cows depends on their gender, age and economic group (stud bulls, dairy cows, young animals, fattening calves). In dairy cows, the diet depends on the physiological state of the animal. A distinction is made between feeding during the dry, pregnant and lactation periods.

Breeding bulls need increased feeding. In winter, they are given food 2-3 times a day; in summer, the number of feedings increases and reaches 3-4 times. They use exclusively fresh and high-quality feed, balanced in nutrients, vitamins and microelements.

The main task of feeding stud bulls is to constantly maintain them in factory condition and prevent emaciation or obesity, therefore, during periods of intensive use, feeding rates increase, and when activity decreases, they decrease.

Feeding young animals is particularly complex and varied, due to rapid development and associated frequent changes in diet. In the first 30-60 minutes after birth, the calf needs to drink its mother's colostrum. It is best to bottle feed the baby. Drinking colostrum from a bucket can lead to the formation of a dense clot of colostrum in the calf's abomasum and the development of dyspepsia. In the first days, calves are fed 5-6 times a day, gradually increasing the portion, reducing the frequency of feeding.

During the dairy period, calves are fed with special dietary feed additives (acidophilic yogurt, lysozyme, oat milk, artificial colostrum). During the first 10-20 days, calves are gradually accustomed to eating concentrated and roughage feed, that is, feed and hay. Calves are fed milk until they reach the age of 1.5 months, skim milk is given starting from one month of age, hay and concentrates from two months of age, and silage from four months of age.

In total, from birth to 6 months of age, a rapidly growing calf consumes about: 200-250 kg. milk, 400-450 kg. skim milk, 2.5 quintals of hay, 4 c. silage and 1.5 c. root vegetables and concentrates.

Young cows aged 12-14 months or adult animals are put on fattening 70-90 days before slaughter to bring them to condition.

It is necessary to distinguish between fattening and fattening. The first involves keeping animals indoors and actively feeding them for a short period (70 days for adult animals and 90 for young animals). Fattening is fattening done on grazing, most often using the pen method of grazing pastures. Fattening requires less feed than fattening, but takes longer (90 for adult animals and 120-150 days for young animals).

When cows are put on fattening, they are accustomed to new feeds for the first 5-10 days. Very often, agricultural waste is used for fattening: stillage, pulp, potato pulp. In addition, they also provide the usual food for cows: hay, haylage, silage, concentrated and green feed. When fattening on stillage and pulp, you need to carefully monitor the condition of the food, as it can quickly turn sour and cause poisoning.

Normally, an adult cow should receive 60-80 kg daily, and young animals 40-50 kg. bards. In addition to this, additional hay or other roughage is given at the rate of 1-1.5 kg. for every 100 kg. animal weight.

With good feeding and maintenance, fattening young animals should be given 900-1000 grams daily.

Fattening cows are not only actively fed, but also conditions are created for them that further accelerate fattening. Grazing areas are located in close proximity to each other and to watering areas in order to avoid long hauls. Give the animals plenty of water 2-3 times a day.

The diet of dairy cows depends on their condition. During lactation, the cow receives a complete diet consisting of hay, haylage, concentrates; in the summer, green food is added to the diet, and silage is added to the diet in the winter.

Description.
The cow is in 6th place in terms of cost recovery rate, despite the fact that the animal is large and consumes large amounts of food and water every day. By the standards of the animal world, a cow is a relative long-liver (about 30 years) can be productive for 20-23 years, it takes about 3 years to fully mature, after this age, the calf will exceed the 100-150 kg mark, when as an adult weighs around half a ton. The following are bred in temperate continental climates: cow breeds :

1. Kholmogory cows. High immunity and resistance to frost, but the quality of milk varies, depending on the individual cow.
2. Yaroslavl cows. High milk yield, good fertility.
3. Bestuzhev cows. Poorly suited for milking, but good for meat.
4. Holstein cows. Despite the fact that the animal is very capricious and whimsical, it produces high-quality milk with high fat content.

Caring for a cow.
The herd must have a barn, where each individual is assigned a personal stall, the premises must meet all the requirements because the animal is quite capricious in terms of keeping conditions (the temperature is constant, no higher than 18 C); if temperature measurements are not observed, apathy begins and problems with milking occur. The barn itself is usually made of a wooden frame, but recently aerated concrete and foam concrete have been used; these materials are the most hygienic and durable.
Good health, and therefore productivity, depends entirely on caring for the animal. The following conditions apply for this:

1. Cows should have a walking area, but always with a canopy, where they can hide from extreme heat (they cannot tolerate heat and can get heatstroke) and rain (a wet animal can get sick).
2. There should be tubs of water and licks (lumps of salt that cows like to lick when they have a calcium deficiency) on the walk.
3. The stalls should have bright lighting, especially in winter, lamps of at least 40 W.
4. IN winter time, the cow should not be released into temperatures below -15 C.
5. If in winter the air humidity outside is too high, it is better to cover the udder with a special cape so that the skin does not crack or peel.
6. It is important to remember that a cow is a sociable animal and for proper development, the animal must have communication with its relatives, a minimum social circle of 5 individuals. If there is no such circle, the little cows should be walked with other animals.

Diet.
The main product of a cow is hay; at least 4 kg of it is required per 100 kg of animal weight. Also, the cow should receive at least 3 kg of succulent feed, such feed includes potatoes, beets, tops, carrots and many other vegetables and fruits. The ideal daily diet for a half-ton cow is as follows:

1. 7-8 kg of hay.
2. 3 kg. juicy food.
3. 3 cups of bran or concentrates.

And in summer period, the basis of nutrition is pasture with a small addition of succulent food.
Signs of a healthy individual.

1. Rolling eyes with clear whites.
2. Widely spaced nipples.
3. The skin should be elastic, without flaking.
4. Neck with many folds (but not fat).
5. The head is raised high and light.
6. The udder is without damage, feels hairy and toned.
7. The rear should not be hanging (this will significantly complicate calving).
8. The horns are small but strong.

Reproduction of cows.
A cow is considered sexually mature after 18 months, but the ability to reproduce appears as early as 8 months. Heifers have their own cycle of sexual calm and sexual activity; if fertilization has not occurred, the cycle repeats again. In a cow, the period of hunting is repeated every 21 days, and the duration is about 10 hours (the duration of the desire depends on the time of year, in spring up to 15 hours, and in winter no more than 9). During these hours, the cow behaves completely naturally, often moos, arches, eats poorly, but drinks a lot, and the genitals also become swollen. They are usually washed so that contact with the male does not introduce infection inside. Pregnancy lasts quite a long time, but exact time depends on the age of the cow, a cow “in its prime” carries a calf in 250 days, older ones carry a litter a month or two longer. During pregnancy, the animal becomes more sensitive to external stimuli and is closer to giving birth; at this time, milking must be stopped completely, otherwise you can end up with a frail litter. If she is healthy, the birth takes place without human help and in a short time; the calf is placed on a clean burlap sack and the mucus is removed from the nostrils if the baby cannot “blow his nose” on his own.

Even before our era, the domestication of large cattle. The ancestor of modern domestic cows was the aurochs, which became extinct as a result of hunting and economic activity people, a subspecies of wild bull. When man no longer faced the problem of taming these animals, then through selection, maintenance and breeding in artificially created conditions the characteristics and appearance animal. This is how different representatives of cattle appeared.

In what territories was the ancient bull distributed and its characteristics?

Main habitat wild ancestor cows were from the steppe or forest-steppe zones of the eastern hemisphere. The oldest known fossil remains of wild bulls were found in Europe, Asia, the Caucasus, and North Africa. They lasted the longest in Europe.

Researchers define two types of tours: European and Indian. The first was much more massive than its eastern relative. The height of adult males at the withers reached two meters. These were muscular giant bulls weighing nearly a ton with long, slightly curved, sharp horns.

The appearance of the primitive bull differs in many ways from the modern cow.

Cows and young individuals of either sex were reddish-brown in color, while strong and aggressive males were black or black-spotted. Along the ridge there was a wide light stripe. The high-set head was larger and elongated in appearance. The udder, covered with hair, did not protrude to the side. The ancestors of cattle were long-legged.

Bulls lived either alone or in small groups. For the winter, they migrated to the forests, forming a herd led by a cow. The calves appeared in the spring.

History of domestication

A cow is a large domestic dairy animal of the artiodactyl order, a female domestic bull. Etymology defines the name as common Slavic, however, many Indo-European languages ​​took part in the formation of the word “cow”, for example, the Latin cornu, which literally means “horned”. That is, the origin of the name comes from its appearance.

Advances in animal husbandry with goats, sheep and pigs advanced before ancient man new task: how to tame a cow. People used the same “techniques” to domesticate cows.

Wild, and soon the first domesticated, aurochs were used by Neolithic inhabitants for meat, milk and skins. With development Agriculture oxen are already the main draft force. Initially, livestock farming developed in the north and east of the African continent, as well as in central Asia. In our latitudes, cattle were domesticated in the southern territories of Russia.

Consequences of crossing

Animals began to give birth. By crossing different species and changing survival conditions, mutations appeared that radically changed our understanding of modern cows. Gradually they began to differ from the wild ancient bull:

• the legs became shorter and denser;
• the overall size has decreased;
• the structure and color of the coat and undercoat have changed;
• hearing and vision have deteriorated;
• adipose tissue has been redistributed;
• muscle mass has changed;

Having learned how to tame a cow, the man began to change his life. People no longer had to hunt. Food was always near them. They developed necessary qualities in the descendants of animals, depending on the goals set. So, in our time, livestock is divided into:

• dairy – capable of producing large amounts of milk;
• meat - capable of producing large amounts of meat;
• combined (meat and dairy) – has well-developed muscle mass and produces large volumes of milk.

Reasons for the extinction of the species

Scientists cannot name the exact reasons for the disappearance of the population of aurochs (relatives of cattle). First of all, their number decreased due to intensive deforestation in the 9th-11th centuries in Central Europe, from where they were forced to move en masse to the banks of the Dnieper. Here they were actively exterminated through dangerous and obscene hunting.

Soon, in the territories of present-day Poland, Lithuania and Belarus, they were taken under protection. The last abode of the ancestors of cattle was the royal forest near Warsaw. Small numbers, isolation and weak genetics have left the remaining cows and bulls of this species vulnerable. In 1627, the last individual died from the disease.

Attempts to revive the tour

The revival of a prehistoric animal was carried out within the framework of Nazi program in Germany, crossing those brought from different countries livestock Unfortunately, all developments were lost. At the moment, environmental Polish and Dutch organizations are working on this issue. They intend to use the preserved DNA to recreate the extinct bull.

These animals are an integral part of the valuable natural grassland ecosystem in Central European countries. Their meaning is very important. Even in modern world It is impossible to imagine life without products produced by livestock enterprises. The domesticated bull and cows had a huge impact on the development of mankind.

Tell us in the comments what role this historical animal plays in your daily life.