Republic of Karelia - breeding base of Ayrshire breed

Abstract

The article examines the state and the possibilities of improving breeding base of Ayrshire breed in the Republic of Karelia. Ayrshire are the main breed in the region - 94% of the total cattle number with 100% pure breeding. The Republic has the status of pedigree Ayrshire cattle breeding zone. 58% of all Airshires are concentrated In breeding farms, including 35% in breeding plants. A significant influence on the development of the Ayrshire breeding base was provided by the derivation of the Karelian type (patent No. 6764). Animals of this type combine high milk yield, high technological qualities, availability to machine service, good health and resistance to mastitis. The characteristic of productive and technological traits in cows of the whole population in cows of the entire population and breeding factories (milk yield 8298 kg), bull-producing groups (milk yield 11109 kg with 4.13% fat) are given. It is proposed to create a unified system of animal evaluation in the Ayrshire breed, to create a centralized database and to fill it online, to use the genetic estimation of animals with an increasing of breeding characteristics, to evaluate and select bulls according to the materials of many herds in different regions.