THE INFLUENCE OF THE INTENSITY OF GROWTH OF JERSEY BREED HEIFERS DURING ONTOGENESIS ON THEIR MILK PRODUCTIVITY

Obtaining highly productive animals is possible thanks to the introduction of modern systems for the targeted cultivation of repair young animals. Jersey breed animals are particularly popular among cattle breeders due to their unpretentiousness to the feeding and maintenance system, as well as increased protein and fat content parameters compared to other breeds. The manifestation of individual differences in productive qualities in the cultivation of repair heifers during ontogenesis allows an early determination of the direction of their production use. The study of the relationship between the intensity of growth of young animals with the results of the evaluation of the milk productivity of the first heifers following the results of the first completed lactation showed the presence of a positive relationship (r = 0,96) between these two parameters. Thus, the highest milk productivity is observed in cows, which in the period from 0 to 6 months had an average daily increase in live weight at the level of 811–961 g, which is generally consistent with the research of Russian and foreign authors and opens up new prospects for improving the productive and economically useful characteristics of the Jersey cattle population in the North Caucasus.