THE SUITABILITY OF THE UDDER IN BROWN SWISS BREED COWS TO THE ROBOTIC MILKING TECHNOLOGY

Abstract

The article presents an analysis of the udder morphofunctional properties in first-calf heifers of the Brown Swiss breed of domestic and Austrian selection with robotic milking.  The research was carried out in the "Zhappuev Zh." collective farm, located in the Baksan district of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic, on first-calf heifers of the brown Swiss breed of domestic (control group) and Austrian selection (experimental group). From the 30 first-calf heifers of the Brown Swiss breed of domestic selection, 12 heads, or 40%, were attributed to individuals with a bowl- and bath-shaped udder, which is 5 heads or 16,7% less than among the herd mates of the Austrian selection, this provided a smaller number of animals with a rounded udder shape: 43,3% against 60% – in domestic individuals. To robotic milking, the first-calf heifers of the Brown Swiss breed of Austrian selection responded better, their milk yield was 3,8 kg higher then their herd mates of domestic origin (P>0,999). They were also characterized by more intensive removal of milk from the udder, the differences in comparison with domestic herd mates amounted to an average of 0,28 kg/min (P>0,999). According to the udder index, the superiority of Austrian first-calf heifers over the control was 1,5% (P>0,95). Consequently, the best suitability for robotic milking differed the first-calf heifers of the Brown Swiss breed of Austrian selection, which, unlike domestic individuals, were characterized by a large proportion of animals in the bowl- and bath-shaped udder, a higher rate of milk flow and uniform development of the udder lobes.