PERFORMANCE AND ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY OF GROWING HEIFERS ON DIETS WITH DIFFERENT STRUCTURES IN THE LAST PERIOD OF PREGNANCY

Abstract

Using diet developed with a new forage for heifers during the last period of pregnancy contributes to crude protein content increase by 12.5 % and decrease of protein degradability in the rumen by 2 percentage points. Positive effect of diet on heifers of the last period of pregnancy on performance was determined, which was higher than that of the control by 7.1 % at decrease of feed costs by 6.1 %, metabolizable energy - by 4.8 %. Production experiments of feeding heifers for the entire period of pregnancy confirmed data obtained in the scientific experiment. As a result performance of heifers increased by 11.7 %, feed costs decreased by 10.4 %, metabolizable energy - by 9.2 %, crude protein - by 3.9 %, and additional income for 270 days obtained - 115 million rubles.