Productivity and adaptation ability of Holstein cattle of different genetic selections

Authors: IVAN FIODOROVICH GORLOV, SVETLANA EVGENIEVNA BOZHKOVA, OLGA PAVLOVNA SHAKHBAZOVA, VERA VASILIEVNA GUBAREVA, NATALI IVANOVNA MOSOLOVA, ELENA YURIEVNA ZLOBINA, YURIY NICOLAEVICH FIODOROV, ALEXEY SERGEEVICH MOKHOV

Abstract: The purpose of the research was to compare economically useful traits of Holstein cows of different selections. The results show that the German and Australian selections were superior to the Danish and American cows in terms of their growth (at 36 months of age, the body weights of the German and Australian cows were 36.5 and 27.6 kg greater than the Danish cows and 24.3 and 15.4 kg greater than the American cows, respectively). Maximum milk yield was obtained from the American and German cows (25,220 and 24,861 kg). Their milk also had higher fat content. The maximum protein content was found in the milk of the Australian and American cows (3.47% and 3.38%). The calf crop from the American, Danish, German, and Australian cows was 87%, 82%, 84%, and 83%, respectively. The Danish and Australian cows had higher erythrocyte, total protein, and phagocytosis indices, but the German and American cows had higher germicidal and lysozyme activity indices. The level of profitability of milk production from the cows of American and German selections was higher by 10.8%-11.3%. However, acclimatization process modeling helped to establish that for long-term economic planning, the Danish Holsteins should be preferred.

Keywords: Holstein, selection, adaptation, productivity, milk, profitability

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