1. Kalmyk cattle
Kalmyk cattle are a beef cattle breed originating in Mongolia and northwestern China and taken to southwestern Russia by migrating Kalmyk tribes in the early 17th century. They are now found in central Asia and Southern Russia on dry steppe pastures.
Kalmyk cattle are red with white markings on the head, belly and legs. They are medium-sized, compact animals with a small head, long face and short horns. There is a well-developed dewlap. Believed to originate from Indian cattle they have a high number of sweat glands, allowing them to endure high summer temperatures, and grow a long thick coat in winter.
2. Kostroma cattle
The Kostroma is a Russian cattle breed developed in the first half of the 20th century in the Kostroma Oblast of Russia’s Upper Volga region, based mostly on crossbreeding local improved cattle with Brown Swiss, Allgau cattle and Ayrshire bulls. They are similar in appearance to Brown Swiss, but longer in head and body with a narrower forehead.
The forehead is narrower, while the back and loin are straighter and wider. Animals in Karavaevo are light grey in colour with a yellow top line. The breed is hardy and long-lived, with some cows producing until twenty years of age.
3. Kurgan cattle
The Kurgan (or Kurganskaya) cattle breed originates in south-western Siberia and is a composite of Shorthorn, Simmental, German Black Pied Cattle, Bestuzhev, Tagil, Red Steppe, and local cattle. Its coat colourations are red, red and white, or roan. Its primary domesticated uses are beef and dairy according to body build and productivity.
4. Red Gorbatov cattle
Red Gorbatov cattle are a dairy cattle breed from Gorbatov, Russia.
The breed originated in Nizhegorod province in the 19th century from crossing Tyrolean cattle onto the local Priokski (Great Russian) cattle. A herdbook was established in 1921. Blood type analysis shows a relationship to Danish Red and Angeln cattle.
Animals are solid red in various shades, sometimes with white on the udder. They have a pink muzzle and white horns with black tips. Cows average 122 cm tall at the withers and weigh 470 kg on average. Bulls average 133 cm in height and 830 kg weight. The breed is claimed to have good resistance to leucosis, tuberculosis and brucellosis.
From the breed’s formation in Nizhegorod province in the 19th century, it spread to the floodplain of the Oka river in the Vladimir and Ivanov regions and the Chuvash ASSR. In 1980 there were estimated to be 74,000 breeding females. By 1990 this had fallen to 27,400.
5. Red Tambov cattle
Red Tambov cattle are a cattle breed from the Tambov Oblast of Russia.
The breed, used for milk and beef production, was formed in the mid 19th century by crossing cattle from the Tyrol and some Devon and Simmental onto the local cattle. From 1911 Prof. M.M. Pridorogin recommended closed breeding of the cattle to conserve some of their adaptations to the local conditions. After 1924 the Kirsanov state breeding station and the Lenin collective farm in Kirsanov district were responsible for developing the breed. The breed numbered some 45,000 in 1980.
The cattle are coloured various shades of red with occasional white markings on the abdomen, udder, chest and legs. Cows are typically 127 cm. tall at the withers.
6. Russian Black Pied cattle
The Russian Black Pied is a cattle breed that was developed from crossing the local cattle in various areas with the Dutch Black Pied and East Friesian breeds. By the beginning of 1980, the number of Black Pied cattle in Russia (excluding the Baltic population) was roughly 16.5 million. They are the second most common breed in the country.
7. Yakutian cattle
Yakutian cattle are a cattle landrace bred north of the Arctic Circle in the Republic of Sakha. They are noted for their extreme hardiness and tolerance towards freezing temperatures, Yakutian cattle are relatively small in size.
Legs: they have short, strong legs
Chest: deep but relatively narrow.
Dewlap: well-developed.
Colour: Their colour varies. It can be black, red, or spotted. Most animals have a white dorsal stripe along the back, and in dark animals, the hair between the horns is often reddish-brown.
Their large abdomen and long digestive tract allow them to make efficient use both grass and browse. They grow subcutaneous fat very quickly during the short pasture season and survive under poor feed conditions in winter.
A number of further traits, such as a thick winter coat, a small, fur-covered udder or scrotum, efficient thermoregulation, and low metabolic rates at low temperatures, lead to the Yakutian cattle’s extreme tolerance towards freezing temperatures.
Currently, there are approximately 1200 purebred Yakutian cattle, all of them in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) of the Russian Federation. The breeding population consists of only 525 breeding cows and 28 breeding bulls, the rest are mostly dairy cows. Consequently, the Yakutian cattle are classified as an endangered breed.