Research Article

The influence of different diet formulations on the reproductive quality of dry cows and the growth of their offspring from the new population of Simmental beef cattle in the Carpathian region of Bukovina

Andriy K. Kalinka¹, Olha I. Stadnytska ², Daniel Zaborski ³ 

¹Department of Breeding, Feeding and Technology of Production of Livestock Products, Bukovina State Agricultural Research Station, Institute of Agriculture of the Carpathian Region of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences, Ukraine

²Institute of Agriculture of the Carpathian Region of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences, Ukraine

³Department of Ruminants Science, West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin

1. Acta Sci. Pol. Zootechnica, 22(3), 2023

Abstract. The aim of this study was to describe the effectiveness of feeding dry Simmental beef cows from the Bukovina zone of the Carpathian region with different diets and to analyze their effect on the growth of the offspring up to the age of 7 months. Significant changes in the live weight of bull calves were found at different ages (from birth to 7 months), indicating certain differences in the growth characteristics of the offspring whose dams received 15–20% more energy during the dry period. The economic efficiency of fattening young bulls from the new population of Simmental beef cattle fed haylage diets (providing 15–20% more energy for their dams during the dry period) is also presented. This feeding method has proven to be the most economically viable in the Carpathian foothill zone.

Keywords: beef cattle, food dose, dry cows, calves, profitability