Reproductive qualities of dairy cows at different levels of milk yield

Abstract

The article presents the results of the analysis of the reproductive ability of cows depending on the level of their milk productivity. The studies were conducted in the Republic of Mari El on cows of the Holstein black-and-white breed (n = 3828). There have been studied the influence of different levels of milk yield on the duration of the service period and period between calvings, the output of calves per 100 cows, the coefficient of reproductive ability. The studies used the comparison method, correlation, regression and one-factor analysis of variance. It has been established that the milk yield increases with the age of cows, but at the same time the duration of the service period and calving interval increases. In first-calf cows, the service period was 128.8 days (Cv = 75.1 %), the calving interval was 403.6 days (Cv = 23.5 %). By the third lactation, with an increase in milk yield by 1030 kg (15.4 %), the duration of the service period increased by 7.2 days (5.6 %), the calving interval  -by 12.3 days (3.0 %). The share of the impact (ƞ2x) of milk yield on the duration of the service period was 5.4 %, the calving interval -4.7 %. The correlation coefficients between milk yield for 305 days of the first lactation and the duration of the service period and calving interval were 0.24 and 0.22 (p<0.05), with milk yield for the entire lactation 0.81 (p<0.05). The optimal indicators of the service period (89.4 days), the calving interval (369.4 days), the reproductive capacity (0.94) and the output of calves (1.0) were possessed by the first heifers with low milk productivity-milk yield less than 5000 kg of milk. In animals with the milk yield of 6000-9000 kg of milk or more, the duration of the service period was 12.4-249.6 % higher, the calving interval -by 1.9-32.5 % (p<0.05). According to the regression coefficients, on average, each increase in milk yield per 1000 kg increased the duration of the service period by 25.9 days, the calving interval -by 23.1 days, which worsened the output of calves by 0.24 %, and the coefficient of reproductive ability decreased by 16.0 %.