Agrarian Science and Food Technologies

Polishchuk T.V., Сandidate of Аgricultural Sciences, Associate Professor

Vinnytsia National Agrarian University

Analyzing the ratio of time spent on individual elements of cows’ behavior, it has been established that the ethological characteristics vary depending on the level of milk productivity. The cows with a low productivity (4,000 kg) spent the most time (35.7% of the total time) in the lying position. The animals with a higher level of productivity (5,000 and 6,000 kg) spent most of their time on feed consumption and were more active. Therefore, it was very important for studies to assess the strength and direction of the link between ethological characteristics and indicators of milk productivity of cows.

The milk productivity of cows is positively correlated with such indicator as the duration of feed consumption, regardless of the level of productivity. Such a link is characterized by a positive medium and high correlation dependence. The presence of probable correlation links (<0.01-<0.001) between the indicators of milk yield for lactation, the average daily milk yield, the fat content in milk and the duration of feed consumption indicate that the more time is spent by animals for eating feed, the higher their productivity is. The established natural phenomenon can be manifested in the selective and general totality, and also provides an opportunity to apply this knowledge when forming the groups.

As for the differences between the experimental groups, the correlation between the indicator of milk yield and the duration of resting in the lying position is different in the cows with a productivity level of 4,000 kg (r = -0.69 at P <0.05). The reciprocal average correlation between the duration of resting in the standing position and the milk yield (r = -0.66 at P <0.05) was established in the cows with the level of productivity of 5,000 kg. By the indicator of the duration of movement and the milk yield in the cows, the productivity of which varied in the range of 6,000 kg, the reciprocal average, close to high, probable link (r = -0.74 at P <0.01) was established.

Therefore, the relative variability of the ethological characteristics of cows and the milk yield for lactation, the average daily milk yield and the fat content in milk is in accordance with the biological characteristics of ruminants, while the available differences greatly depend on the individual characteristics of animals.

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