Genetiac Potential Of Milk Productivity Of The Russian Heavy Draft Mares

Abstract

The presence of record-breaking dairy mares among heavy draft horses characterizes both the effectiveness of breeding work on a particular farm and the culture of running the dairy horse breeding industry as a whole. Russian heavy draft mares with an annual estimated milk yield of over 5,000 kg play an exceptionally important role in providing the herd with substitute young stock with high genetic potential. The studies were conducted at the koumiss breeding complex of the Semenovsky Breeding Plant CJSC in the Mari El Republic in the population of Russian heavy draft horses. On this farm, over 17% of mares had a milk yield of over 5,000 kg per lactation. The productivity and economic parameters of these animals were compared with the average for the population. The annual estimated milk yield of record-breaking mares ranged from 5,000 kg to 7,185 kg of milk. The mass fraction of fat and protein in record-breaking mares was slightly lower than the average indicators for the sample. At the same time, the amount of milk fat and milk protein was significantly higher in record-breaking mares than the average for the herd. The service period increased almost three times with an increase in milk productivity. The milk yield coefficient for the group of record-breaking mares was 856.50 kg, which was more than one and a half times higher than the same parameter for all mares of the enterprise. The lifetime milk yield of the selected mares was 1.8 times higher than the average similar parameter for the population. The record-breaking mares were characterized by high growth energy in all periods of ontogenesis. The age of the first successful insemination was 175 days less than the average for the sample.