PHYSIOLOGICAL AND ZOOTECHNICAL SUBSTANTIATION FOR APPLICATION OF PROBIOTICS FOR REARING OF CALVES

Abstract

One of the urgent tasks of dairy cattle breeding is to obtain viable young animals, while the main factors in this issue are survivability and productivity increase of calves. In this regard, the goal was set to study the effectiveness of Probitox and Olin probiotics in rearing technology of dairy calves from a physiological and zootechnical points of view. The experiment was carried out on young black-and-white cattle. The feeding conditions of experimental animals corresponded to the feeding scheme adopted on the farm. The differences among the experimental groups consisted in application of various probiotics - the first experimental group received Probitox in addition to the main ration, the second experimental group received Olin. Comparative effectiveness of two probiotics: Probitox and Olin was presented in the course of the study, they demonstrated effectiveness in rearing technology of dairy calves. Thus, the growth rates of calves of the experimental groups significantly exceeded the control parametres, on average, by 3.3% (P<0.05). As far as average daily growth of young animals is concerned, a significant increase of thisparametre in the experimental groups was also noted - the average daily increase in the first experimental group was higher by 23.1%, in the second experimental group - by 18.7% in relation to the data of the control group. After assessing the hematological parameters of the young animals, it was found that introduction of probiotics into the ration did not adversely affect the functioning of the animals. The economic efficiency calculation showed that the profitability of production had a positive difference of 11% when using probiotics "Probitox" and "Olin" when compared to the control group.