It has been experimentally proven that the strength and direction of the connection between the linear type traits evaluation of the Ukrainian black-and-white dairy breed cows and their body build depends on the type of the build and the sign of the exterior.
The study was conducted in 2018 on a breeding plant of the Ukrainian Black-and-White Dairy breed SPC named Shchorsa in Kiev region (n=89). Differentiation of cows on types of their body build was conducted by the method proposed by Chernenko (low-capacity, mid-capacity and high-capacity types) and Kolesnik (by the massiveness index – on the friable and dense, the bone index – delicate and rough, the wide-breast and wide-rump indices – on narrow-body and wide-body types).
It was found that the cow-heiferswere well-developed, had intermediate stature and optimum body condition score, deep body, and wide, slight slope rump. They alsohad desirable rear legs, set and foot angle but some toe-out, the udder was well-balanced. Under the good total score of the exterior of studied cows there were some animals with short stature (134–
136 cm), very wide rump, straight rear legs side view and toe-out, extremely steep foot angle, loose fore udder attachment, deep udder below hocks and front teat placement inside of quarter.
The degree of development of the studied linear traits of cow-heifers confirms their in-herd variability. The variability of the exterior traits varies from 10,7 % (body depth) to 38,6 % (stature). In addition to the stature of a significant variability was characterized of angularity (22,4 %), rear legs set (22,5 %), body condition score (21,8 %), as well as traits that describe udder: rear udder attachment (31,4 %), udder depth (32,6 %) and front and rear teat position (31,3 % and 25,1 %, respectively). The high variability of linear traits indicates the possibility of effective their selection.
As a result of the research, it has been established that the strength and direction of the correlations between the linear type traits evaluation of Ukrainian Black-and-White Dairy breed cows and the type of their body build depends on the type of the body build and the linear trait. The low-, mid- and high-capacity bodies build types (according to Chernenko) reliably correlate with chest width (r=0,58) and body depth (r=0,48), rear legs rear view (r=0,30), the central ligament (r=0,28), udder depth (r =-0,22) and teat length (r=0,25), P˂0,01–0,001. Friable and dense bodies build (according to Kolesnik) were most strongly associated with stature (r=-0,28), chest width (r =-0,70), and body depth (r=-0,38), as well as with rear legs rear view (r=-0,23), P˂0,05...0,001; delicate and rough bodies build – with stature (r=-0,51), angularity (r=-0,22),rump width (r=-0,35), udder depth (r=-0,27) and rear udder attachment (r =0,20), P ˂ 0,05–0,001; narrow-body and wide-body types – with chest width (r=0,30) and rump width (r=0,23), P˂0,05–0,01.
Linear type trait evaluation of cows depends on the body build. The strength and direction of the correlations between types of body build and linear traits showed that the most informative is the classification of the body build by low-, mid- and high-capacity according to Chernenko – on the average η2x=17,5 %. The less informative – by narrow-body and wide-body types according to Kolesnik – η2x=7,6 %. The classification of cows on delicate-rough, narrow-body and wide-body types (according to Kolesnik) according to informativeness and reliability can have the intermediate position – η2x=10,0–11,5 %.
The strongest influence on the body build has the cows’ height (η2x=27,9 % on average for all studied types of body build), chest width (η2x=33,5 %), body depth (η2x=21,8 %), rump width (η2x=24,1 %) and rear legs (η2x=18,7 %).
Key words: cows, linear type trait evaluation, body build, correlation, power of influence.
Evaluation of Classifiers that Score Linear Type Traits and Body Condition Score Using Common Sires