ASSESSMENT OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF YOUNG CATTLE UP TO 6 MONTHS OF AGE OBTAINED FROM CROSSING CATTLE OF DIFFERENT ORIGINS

Today, the problem of increasing beef production in Ukraine remains almost unresolved. In practice worldwide, to address this issue, crossing dairy-breed cows with beef-breed sires is increasingly used. The paper investigates the peculiarities of growth and development of bull calves and heifers of the Swiss breed and crossbreds with Hereford and Belgian Blue sires. A differentiation has been established in most growth and development indicators between purebred animals and crossbred animals. The more intensive growth of crossbred animals is evidenced by indicators of live weight and average daily gain, which are higher in crossbred animals during the studied periods, with varying degrees of probability (P < 0.01–0.001). According to most measurements, crossbred animals at three and six months of age demonstrated superiority over purebreds. Most of the calculated body structure indices of animals showed better development of meat quality traits in crossbred animals. At six months of age, they exceeded purebreds in chest index, pelvis-chest index, and body compactness index. No significant differences in growth and development were found among crossbred animals. The results obtained are preliminary.