44 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



900 to 1,100 pounds, 1,000 being the average. When 

 in milk, they carry no superfluous flesh. They are 

 wedge-shaped, have a thin neck and head, slender 

 muzzle, large, bright, and expressive eyes, are quick 

 in movement, and have the appearance of extreme 

 watchfulness. 



The udder is remarkably square and blocky. It is 

 well up in front and behind, rarely low and swinging. 

 When not distended with milk, the udders are not 

 remarkably prominent; but when well filled, they are 

 especially large and well formed. A yield of 6,000 

 pounds of milk is an average for the breed in good 

 hands with fair treatment and feed ; for whole herds, 

 7,000 to 8,000 pounds is not unusual. A not uncom- 

 mon annual yield for an Ayrshire is 10,000 pounds; 

 some have reached 14,000 pounds in 365 consecutive 

 days. Individual production of 14 pounds of butter 

 a week is not at all unusual. Members of the breed 

 have produced 28 pounds in seven days. The average 

 of butter fat is not far from 4 per cent. The butter- 

 fat globule of the Ayrshire is smaller than that of 

 the Jersey or Guernsey, and it does not cream so 

 readily. It is also lighter in color. Members of the 

 breed have produced 607 pounds of butter in a year. 



In buying Ayrshires, care needs to be taken to 

 avoid short teats. Most American breeders have been 

 successful in eradicating this defect. There is per- 

 haps no breed more nearly exempt from diseases of 

 the udder than the Ayrshire. In breeding and milk- 

 ing Ayrshire cows for the last twenty years the 

 writer has never had a case of defective teats or ud- 

 ders in a herd of from twenty to thirty cows. 



Typical specimen Ayrshires are seen in Figs. 8 

 and 9. 



