1. Observe the appearance and shape of cattle carefully. Most of the cows raised in China are China Holstein cows raised in China. The quality of this breed of cow is mainly judged from the following aspects.
(1) Generally, high-yield dairy cows not only refer to the breed characteristics of dairy cows, but also have the characteristics of tall and strong body, typical triangle, particularly developed hindquarters and breasts. In some places, black-and-white cattle are crossed with local Niu Yi step by step. Although the coat color is also black and white, it is obviously small, the triangle is not obvious, and the production performance is very low. Therefore, it is necessary to avoid choosing low-yield hybrid cattle with small physique and pointed crotch. The outstanding characteristics of dairy cows are "three widths and three big ones", that is, the back and waist are wide and the abdominal circumference is large; Wide waist angle and large pelvis; The crotch is wide and the chest is big.
(2) Breast is an important organ for dairy cows to produce milk. The breasts of high-yield dairy cows are large in size, symmetrical in structure, well fitted to the body, large but not drooping, good in elasticity, full before milking, soft and wrinkled after milking. This kind of mammary gland has developed tissue, large and obvious breast veins, large breast wells and high productivity. However, low-yield dairy cows have uneven breast size, poor breast adhesion, sagging breasts, inconspicuous milk lines on the surface of the breasts, small milk wells, or large breasts, poor elasticity, and little difference in volume before and after milking. This kind of breast is called "fleshy breast" and has poor milk production capacity. There are also cows with small breasts, and obviously the yield will not be too high. In addition, we should also pay attention to the shape and length of nipples, whether it is convenient for machine milking.
(3) Carefully observe the gait and hoof shape of cattle when buying hooves. Cattle with abnormal hoof shape often have limb and hoof diseases. Cows in captivity are prone to limb and hoof disease, which will directly affect the milk production performance and service life of cows.
(4) Dairy cows with healthy mental state and appetite have bright eyes, good appetite, bright fur, good body development and light gait; Sick cows have dull eyes, sometimes hunchback, like lying down, messy fur and stunted development.
2. Choosing age and parity to judge the age of cattle mainly depends on the appearance and teeth of cattle. Choose cows as soon as possible. Choose cows about 5 years old. In general, cows mate for the first time when they are 1.5 ~ 2 years old, and give birth to 1 fetus before 3 years old. In order to make full use of the productive life of dairy cows and make it profitable to raise cattle, it is necessary to buy dairy cows under 5 years old as much as possible, preferably first-born dairy cows.
3. Pregnancy check In order to buy healthy and prolific cows, it is generally necessary to do a detailed pregnancy check to determine whether they are pregnant, because about 7% ~ 10% of cows have reproductive problems. If the farm has detailed pregnancy records, it should be carefully checked; Otherwise, you must ask professional and technical personnel to have a pregnancy check-up.
4. The contents of pedigree data review include: cow breed, cow number, date of birth, birth weight, adult body size, weight, appearance grade, milk production performance of each litter of cows. Pedigree should also include the weight, appearance score, grade, milk yield and milk fat rate of parents and grandparents. Check the prevention and quarantine, reproduction and health records of bovine diseases.
5. After the general diseases of dairy cows are ruled out by strict health examination, it is necessary to specially check infectious diseases to prevent the introduction of diseases such as tuberculosis, infectious abortion, leptospirosis, trichomoniasis and mastitis, and it is strictly forbidden to buy dairy cows in epidemic areas.
6. Ensure transportation safety. Pay attention to heat preservation and cold protection during transportation. Prepare enough forage for cows that need long-distance transportation, and ensure that cows drink enough water when resting on the road, and feed them 70% to 80% full every time. For trans-regional transportation, transport quarantine certificate and vehicle disinfection certificate should be provided; for railway transportation, railway veterinary quarantine certificate should also be provided; for those purchased in the county, quarantine certificate of origin should also be provided.