Ayrshire

The Ayrshire is a dairy breed that comes from the county of Ayrshire in the south-west of Scotland. You'll know one on sight by the red and white markings, anything from a light orange-red to a deep mahogany, broken up in patches of white. Cows carry a medium frame, generally between 450 and 600 kilograms, with udders that are well attached and built for the daily grind of a working dairy herd.

The breed made its name on land that gave little away: cool, wet ground in western Scotland with poor grazing by any standard. Cattle that got by there had to turn modest grass into milk without fuss and stay sound underfoot on uneven fields. That history shows in the Ayrshire today: a strong forager, sound in the feet and legs, and generally hardy rather than the highest yielder in the dairy world.

Ayrshire milk is moderate in fat and protein and has long had a good name for processing well, which has kept the breed a steady choice for liquid milk and cheesemaking in a number of countries.

Who it suits

The Ayrshire suits the farmer who keeps cows on grass and wants a breed that holds condition on ordinary pasture, walks well to and from the parlour, and keeps producing across plenty of lactations. It has an alert, busy nature, so whoever is handling it wants to be calm and consistent about it. It is not the one to reach for if you are chasing the top litre count from a single cow, where the higher-output breeds are the usual pick.

The breed is named for Ayrshire, the county in the south-west of Scotland where it was shaped up over the eighteenth century. Farmers in the area bred from the cattle they already had, working to lift milk output and settle the red and white colouring that marks the breed out today. Nobody kept a full record of which crosses went into it, but the aim throughout was a dairy animal that could handle a cold, damp climate and rough grazing.

By the early eighteen hundreds the type had settled enough to count as a breed in its own right, though it went by other local names for a while before Ayrshire stuck. Scottish breeders kept their eye on hardiness, a good udder, and the ability to milk well off grass alone.

The breed travelled well over the nineteenth century. It reached North America and became an established dairy breed there, and it was taken up too in Scandinavia and other parts of Europe. In a number of these places it was crossed into local red-and-white dairy stock and left its mark on them.

The Ayrshire is kept today in dairy country the world over, wherever a grass-based system suits it. Breed societies at home in Scotland and abroad keep herd records and still select for what mattered from the start: efficient milk off forage, sound feet and legs, and good all-round health.

The Ayrshire carries a clean, angular dairy frame, medium in size. The colour runs red and white, the red itself anywhere from a pale orange-tan to a dark mahogany. Markings tend to come as sharp, clear patches rather than roaning through the coat. The breed is well known for strong feet and legs, which backs up its name for covering rough ground and grazing without bother.

Coat and colours

The coat lies short and close to the body. What sets the breed apart is the red and white pattern, and it varies no end between animals: some are mostly white with red patches scattered through, others carry great swathes of deep red. In years gone by most Ayrshires had horns that swept upward, though horns are removed as a matter of course on modern dairy farms now. The udder gets particular attention in the standard: it should be well attached, sit level, and balance evenly across all four quarters.

The Ayrshire has a name for being lively and alert. Next to some of the quieter dairy breeds, Ayrshires are more active and quicker to notice what is going on around them. That same alertness is part of why they forage so well, since they will move across a paddock readily enough to get at the grass.

Handlers get the best from them with a steady, predictable routine. Cattle worked calmly settle into milking and handling without any bother, but rough or chopping-and-changing treatment can turn that alertness into nervousness fast. Within the herd they generally get on well and sort out the usual pecking order among themselves. They mix fine with other cattle, and with dogs and people around the yard once they are used to them.

The Ayrshire is one of the handier dairy breeds to keep, which makes day-to-day care fairly straightforward. The main jobs are good grazing, water that never runs short, comfortable housing for milking time and the worst of the weather, and regular attention to the udder and the feet.

Grooming

• Brush off mud and loose hair when the coat is shedding, to keep it clean
• Wash down the udder and flanks before milking to cut the risk of infection
• Trim hooves on a set schedule, usually once or twice a year
• Check the coat for lice and flies in season

Exercise

• Give daily access to a paddock or loafing area so cattle can move about naturally
• Run a rotational grazing system to spread the walking and keep the grass fresh
• Keep tracks and yards even and well drained to protect feet and legs

Environment

The breed was shaped by a cool, wet climate and takes rain and cold in its stride once it has dry lying ground and shelter from the wind. In hotter regions, shade and plenty of water are needed to keep heat stress at bay. Clean, dry bedding and yards that drain well go a long way toward sound feet and healthy udders.

Ayrshire cattle are ruminants, so grass, silage and hay form the backbone of the diet. The breed is well regarded for turning ordinary pasture into milk efficiently. Cows in milk need more energy and protein than grass alone provides, usually made up with concentrate feed, meal, matched to yield and stage of lactation. A milking cow's dry matter intake usually falls somewhere between 14 and 20 kilograms a day, depending on her size and how much she is giving.

Treats and supplements

Offer free-choice minerals and salt suited to the local soil and forage, since shortages of copper, selenium and magnesium turn up often enough in certain areas. Clean water needs to be on tap at all times: a cow in milk can easily drink over 100 litres a day. Treats such as a small bit of root crop or a molasses lick are fine, but keep them limited so the rumen is not thrown off balance.

The Ayrshire has a name as a robust dairy breed with good general health and a fair innings, often 12 to 16 productive years under good management. Strong feet and legs and a well-attached udder spare it some of the structural problems seen in other dairy cattle. As with any dairy cow, the biggest health risks sit around the udder, the feet, and the metabolic strain of calving and the start of lactation.

Preventive care

• Follow a vaccination and parasite dosing programme agreed with a vet
• Trim and check hooves on a routine schedule
• Keep milking clean and watch somatic cell counts for early signs of mastitis
• Manage the transition period around calving to head off metabolic disease
• Offer balanced minerals to cover local shortages

Ayrshire heifers reach puberty inside the first year and are usually bred at about 13 to 15 months old, with an eye to calving down for the first time around 24 months. Cows cycle roughly every 21 days, and most breeding these days is done by AI, which opens up recorded sires and backs genetic selection for milk, udder, and longevity. Natural service with a bull still has its place on some farms.

Gestation runs to about nine months, somewhere near 279 to 283 days, and the cow normally has a single calf. Twins turn up now and again but are not common. Ayrshire calves arrive strong and should get colostrum within the first few hours to build up passive immunity. Calves are generally reared on milk or replacer with starter feed brought in early, and weaned once they are eating enough solid feed, usually by around two months.

The breed has a good name for fertility and easy calving, and a well-run herd can have a cow calving down every year across plenty of lactations. Selection programmes through breed societies record production and conformation to guide who is mated to who.