Factors affecting productive longevity of cows of Red-and-White breed

Abstract

The duration of economic use of cows is one of the important economic indicators in dairy cattle breeding, which determines the total amount of dairy products received from the cow and the speed of herd repair. A short period of use of cows causes economic damage to dairy cattle breeding and leads to the loss of valuable genotypes. Productive longevity of cows is the potential to increase the efficiency of dairy cattle breeding; therefore it can be a priority direction of breeding. There are quite a lot of reasons for the culling of animals from the herd, and they have their own specifi cs in each farm. The purpose of the research was to study the factors aff ecting the productive longevity of cows of Red-and-White breed in pedigree farms. The research was carried out under the conditions of breeding ferms in the Voronezh region, which Red-and-White breed of cattle bred such as JSC “Troitskoye” and JSC “Mayak” of Liskinsky district, LLC “Agrotech-Garant” Nashchekino of Anninsky district. It was found that the average milk yield of cows in all farms was 7497±532 kg (the best result was obtained in LLC “Mayak” – 8034 kg), which signifi cantly exceeds the requirements of the breed standard. The average percentage of fat in milk was 3,79 ± 0,11 %, protein – 3,22± 0,07 %, which meets the requirements of the breed standard. Analysis of the duration of productive use of cows in the herd showed that the average age at calving was 2,73 ± 0,26. A slight excess was observed in JSC “Troitskoe” (by 0,47 calving or 17,1 %). It was revealed as a result of the research that the best productive longevity and the highest productivity over the period of life in farms were found in cows calved at the age of 26–28 months, with a live weight of 480 – 520 kg, with milk yield for the fi rst lactation to 5000–6000 kg of milk, having an open days period of 60–90 days. It was found, farms have significant reserves to increase the productive longevity of cows by improving breeding work and veterinary activates.