СHEWING ACTIVITY AS AN INDICATOR OF COWS HEAT
Ruminant animals, including cattle, capturing food, swallow it, almost without chewing. So, it is the best indicator of life of ruminant. Changes in chewing activity are the earliest signal that can be considered as a warning about the potential problems of the functional state and health of cows. The research was carried out on cows of Ukrainian black-and-white milk breed whose productivity reached 6000- 8000, and in the best animals - 9500- 9700 kg of milk with a fat content - 3,6- 3,8% and protein - 3,1-3,3%. For research, only healthy cows with a health index (according to the Milcon program) to be at least 88, were selected. By analyzing the intensity of the chewing process against the background of the motor activity curve in cows with typical heat, elongated heat and silent heat, it can be concluded that the period of sexual excitement of cows is also characterized by significant changes in chewing activity. At the same time, the character of chewing activity changes can be even more effective as a tools of heat detection, in comparison with movement activity, since, as evidence of the study result, "silent" manifestation is not a characteristic for the decline of chewing activity.