The milk productivity of cows, determined by the heredity of the Holstein breed and the technology of milk production

Abstract

Goal. To study the influence of conditional thorough-bredness of the Holstein breed and milk production technology on the manifestation of signs of milk productivity in cows of the Ukrainian red-spotted dairy breed. Methods. Experimental studies were conducted in three farms with advanced milk production technology and in seven farms with traditional technology. The experimental cows were divided into 6 groups depending on thorough-bredness according to the Holstein breed. The milk productivity of cows for the first to fifth completed lactation was studied according to the information system of dairy management “Intesel-Orsek” by the date of 01.01.2022. Results. A significant differentiation of the milk yields of cows of different conventional thorough-bredness according to the Holstein breed, which produced milk using progressive and traditional technology, was established. Under the conditions of progressive technology, the most milk (7090–9403 kg) in the dynamics of five lactations was obtained from high-bred cows with the heredity of the Holstein breed at the level of 96.8–100%. The use of low-bred cows (50% or less according to the Holstein breed) in the conditions of advanced technology did not contribute to the efficiency of the industry — 1208–3546 kg (p<0.01) less milk was obtained from them than from high-bred ones. In the conditions of traditional technology, the increase in milk yield did not have a clear connection with the increase in conditional thorough-bredness of the improving breed and the age of cows at calving. The most milk in the first to third lactations was obtained from cows absorbed by the Holstein breed by 87.5–96.7%, and in the fourth and fifth lactations from the most Holsteinized cows (96.8–100%). Keeping animals under the conditions of traditional technology ensured a slightly higher fat content in the milk of cows of all genotypic groups, compared to progressive technology, but at the same time, under none of the technologies, a clear dependence of milk fat content of cows with their milk yield and conditional thorough-bredness of the Holstein breed was established. A similar trend was observed regarding the protein content of milk under different technologies. One-factor variance analysis established that the influence of milk production technology on the milk yield of Holstein cows of different heredity during the first-third lactation was insignificant and unreliable. Conclusions. Adoptive crossbreeding in the conditions of both progressive and traditional milk production technologies was not accompanied by a stable increase in milk yield with an increase in the heredity of the Holstein breed and the age of cows at calving. The highest productivity in conditions of progressive technology was achieved by cows of the Ukrainian red-spotted dairy breed, which inherited no less than 87.5%, and in conditions of traditional technology, which inherited no less than 75.0% of the improved breed.