The growth and development of heifers of Alatau breed at different technologies of rearing

Abstract

At the present stage of economic development of the Republic of Kazakhstan dairy cattle breeding should be competitive, highly productive and cost-effective, which contributes to ensuring the country’s independence from imports of dairy products. The formation of milk productivity of future cows begins with the preparation of cows for calving and the purposeful rearing of replacement young cattle, based on the achievements of scientific and technical progress, a systematic approach to the production of high-quality products. The researches have been carried out in the farm “Tauelsizdik” in the Eskeldinsky district in the Almaty region in the Republic of Kazakhstan. According to the results of the research, the average daily gain of live weight in 3 months of the post-embryonic period was 458,9±71,9 g in heifers have reared in narrow-sized pens, and 682,2±44,6 g in heifers have reared in group pens. At 3 months of age the live weight of heifers at rearing in narrow-sized pens has reached 76,5±2,5 kg in narrow-sized pens, and 98,3±1,7 kg in group pens (P < 0,001). The data of the experiment have convincingly shown the effectiveness of rearing heifers in group pens. The live weight of heifers at birth was 36,4±1,1 kg, at one month of age – 54,2±1,6 kg, at 2 months of age the live weight increased to 70,2±2,1 kg, at 3 months of age to 87,4±3,3 kg, at 4 months of age to 116,8±3,5 kg, at 5 months of age to 132,7±4,2 kg and at 6 months of age to 157,4±4,6 kg. The indices of lengthiness, chest, hip-chest and blockiness increased up with age, while the indices of high-leg and overgrown decreased down. For example, the lengthiness index has increased with age from 90 to 97 %, the chest index from 62 to 70, and the high-leg index has decreased from 59 to 54, overgrowth from 109 to 108 %.