Feed conversion efficiency in different groups of dairy cows

• Published in: Ukrainian journal of ecology Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. 124 - 129
• Main Authors: Ruban, S. Yu, Perekrestova, A. V., Shablia, V. P., Bochkov, V. M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Melitopol Bogdan Chmelnitskiy Melitopol State Pedagogical University 01.01.2018
• Subjects: Animal husbandry; Body condition; Breeding; By-products; Byproducts; Cattle; Cow's milk; Dairy cattle; Dairy products; Digestibility; Dry matter; Ecology; Environmental impact; Feed conversion efficiency; Feeding; Feeds; Fluctuations; Food conversion; Indicators; Livestock breeding; Metabolism; Milk; Organizations; Proteins; Seasonal variations; Somatic cells; Urea; Yield; United States > US; Utah; Pennsylvania
• ISSN: 2520-2138; 2520-2138
• DOI: 10.15421/2018_196

It was estimated the conversion of feed into milk, content of urea, fat, protein, somatic cells in the milk of cows of different breeds in different seasons and months of the year. It was established that the peculiarities of the organization of feeding process significantly influence the productive indicators. Thus, in the conditions of a modern milk complex for 1500 cows with an unattached system of keeping in boxes and feeding with the use of mixed rations, the average value of feed conversion (the measures of digestibility of the feed when it "converted" into dairy products) is 1.38 kg of milk per kilogram of dry matter of feed, and the ratio of fat to protein is 1.10, which is lower than the existing standards. It was established that changes in the conditions by months of the year significantly influenced practically all analyzed qualitative characteristics of milk. And this fact entails the corresponding monthly fluctuations of indicators of safety of products, emissions of by-products of metabolism, and, consequently, fluctuations of dairy cattle breeding impact on the environment and ecology. It was found that milk yield positively and significantly (P≥0.999) correlated with the consumption of feed dry matter (r = 0.454) and feed conversion rate (r = 0.547). At the same time, the milk yield is negatively related to the fat content (r = –0.211) and the protein content (r = –0.192) in milk. The level of urea in milk positively correlates with the content of protein in milk (r = 0.130; P≥0.99). The influence of the factor "breed" on the following important economic-useful traits such as daily milk yield (η2 = 0.131) and feed conversion rate (η2 = 0.130) are proved.