THE INFLUENCE OF THE INTENSITY OF GROWTH OF LIVE WEIGHT OF HEIFERS ON THE FORMATION OF THE EXTERIOR OF DAIRY COWS
Abstract
In the herd of the breeding farm LLC "Agrofirma "Svitanok"", comprising 895 cows, the level of correlated variability between the growth intensity of heifer body weight and the exterior of first-calf heifers of dairy breeds was determined. In the majority of cases, an inverse relationship was found between the age at exterior assessment of first-calf heifers and the growth intensity of heifers. First-calf heifers with higher average daily weight gains generally exhibited better development in most measurements, as evidenced by predominantly statistically significant positive correlation coefficients, which noticeably increased during the pubertal (6-9 and 9-12 months) period (up to 56.4%) and gradually decreased thereafter. A noticeable and significant relationship between the index of declining relative growth rate and the age at exterior assessment indirectly indicates that heifers with slower body weight development tend to have a younger age at calving. The patterns of age-related dynamics in the correlated variability of heifer weight gains and subsequent measurements of first-calf cows observed over three-month periods are also maintained over six-month age periods. It was established that the growth intensity during the period of sexual maturation of heifers had the most significant impact on the development of most body measurements in first-calf heifers. The identified correlation between the body measurements of first-calf heifers and the weight gains of heifers is partially confirmed when using visual linear assessment of body type according to the scoring scale. A statistically significant direct correlation was found with growth and size traits (r = 4.7…21.2%), chest traits (7.9…33.9%), udder traits (2.9…17.6%), and the overall score (3.7…22.8%). The highest degree of correlated variability with weight gains over three-month and six-month periods was found with the leg length index (up to 38.6%), bone index (up to 37.4%), and pelvic-chest index (up to -29.4%). The statistically significant level of correlated variability between the exterior of first-calf heifers and the average daily weight gains of heifers confirms the importance of intensive growth of young stock for forming the desired exterior type in cows, especially during the period of intensive sexual maturation from 6 months to one year of age.
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