PRODUCTIVE AND REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE OF FIRST CALVING CROSSBRED COWS

Abstract

The article presents the results of studies of reproductive performance, safety and average daily milk yield of first-calf cows of the Ukrainian Red-and-White dairy breed, obtained from the Montbeliard and Holstein sire bulls in the SE "Gontarivka", Kharkiv region. It was found that the weight at the first fertilization in heifers obtained from bulls of different breeds did not practically differ, and averaged 470 kg. At the same time, the age of the first insemination and calving of the daughters obtained from the Montbeliard bulls was significantly less than of the daughters obtained from the Holstein bulls, which indicates a greater intensity of growth of crossbred heifers. The average daily milk yield of daughters of Montbeliard breed bulls for the first two months of lactation was 1.6 kg and 0.5 kg less than that of their counterparts. In the third month of lactation, the average daily milk yield of first calving cows obtained from Holstein bulls became 0.2 kg less than that of crossbred ones, and later this trend of the advantage in daily milk yield of the daughters of Holstein bulls continued. For 8 months of lactation, the milk yield of the daughters of the Montbeliard bulls was slightly less by 201.4 kg than their peers. There were no significant differences in the content of fat, protein and the somatic cells count.