THE INFLUENCE OF THE PHASES OF THE ANNUAL TECHNOLOGICAL CYCLE ON THE DYNAMICS OF RUMINATOR ACTIVITY IN HEALTHY COW MILKING

Abstract

In a long-term experiment on red-spotted dairy cows using the SCR Heatime HR-IR system, the nature of rumination in animals was studied. The experiment involved 10 dairy cows, which were observed during the year-round physiological cycle.Studies have shown that the phase of the physiological cycle is not significantly affected by the term rumination. Rumination gradually increases after calving from 254 to 510 from 1 to 62 days of lactation, and then stabilizes at 505-509 minutes per day. Then, due to the change in the composition of the diet during the transition from the first to the second phase of lactation, the level of rumination temporarily increases for 5-7 days to 562 minutes, and then stabilizes again at 536-538 minutes.In the third phase of lactation there is a gradual decrease in rumination and at the time of launch it becomes minimal for the second phase - 505 minutes.In the dry phase, rumination gradually decreases close to the time of birth. In some cows, it is completely absent for several hours. After childbirth, the duration of rumination again gradually increases and returns to normal by 45-55 days of lactation.The level of rumination in cows is closely and directly correlated with the content of fiber in the diet. At optimal fiber levels, rumination in cows ranges from 505-540 minutes per day. When the concentration of fiber exceeds the optimal level, it goes beyond the normal level in the greater direction, and the reduction of fiber to less than 16 -18 % of dry matter, becomes insufficient for normal physiological digestion of the diet.The indicator of the term rumination can be used to characterize the norm of fiber concentration in the diet. Rumination and its dynamics can serve as a reliable test of the physiology of digestion of cows and characterize the stressful state of the cow's body. Healthy cows have the highest rumination rates at the time of transition from the second to the third phase of lactation.The intensity of rumination decreases more than twice in the naturally stressful moments of the physiological state of cows during the transition from one phase of the physiological cycle to another, in the last three weeks of pregnancy and during calving.Rumination in cows is directly and closely correlated with the level of fiber in the diet - andan increase in fiber increases the duration of rumination in animals.Reducing the level of fiber in the diet of cows below the optimal level leads to a significant reduction in rumination and its departure from the physiological norm.