The use of chitin preparations to increase cow productivity

The use of various feed additives in the diets for lactating cows makes them more nutritionally balanced and, as a result, has a positive effect on animal productivity by stimulating the processes of digestion and metabolism. The article presents the results of studying the effect of chitin preparations, and in particular, chitosan derivatives (chitosan succinate) on dairy productivity of cows, the composition and properties of milk in a certain climatic, fodder and ecological zone. The feed additive was tested in a breeding reproducer for breeding Holstein cattle in the Sverdlovsk region. An assessment of milk productivity and milk production efficiency was carried out when using chitosan succinate of different molecular weights. As a result of the conducted studies, it was found that cows from the experimental groups received more milk than their peers from the control group by 1018 and 1306 kg, or by 11.62 and 12.97%. The difference in fat was 0.14 – 0.20% in fat and 0.09 – 0.04% in protein in absolute terms. Thus, the use of chitosan succinate as a feed additive in the diets of dairy cows in the second half of lactation in an amount of 0.2 ml/ kg of live weight in the form of a 2.0% solution for 5 days in 2-fold repetition with a break of 5 days makes it possible to increase the efficiency of milk production by increasing milk productivity and its quality indicators.