EVALUATION OF THE GROWTH RATES AND BIOMETRIC TRAITS IN MEAT CROSSBRED CALVES

The aim of this study was to evaluate the body weight and some biometric measurements on meat crossbred calves comparative with Romanian Black Spotted dairy calves at weaning (4 months). The current research was carried out on a number of 45 calves in the Dairy cows' Experimental Farm of theResearch and Development Institute for Bovine Balotesti, on four experimental groups, E1: F1 Blanc Blue Belgique x Romanian Black Spotted, E2: F1 Aberdeen Angus x Romanian Black Spotted, E3: F1 Limousine x Romanian Black, E4: F1 Charolaise x Romanian Black Spotted, with n=9 heads/group and the control group (M) Romanian Black Spotted, with n=9 heads/group. The obtained mean values for the body weight were statistically significant (p<0.001) for all experimental groups (E1:153.54±1.36 kg, E2:153.00±0.86 kg, E3:150.77±0.87 kg, E4:139.78±1.42 kg) comparative with the control group (M:128.36±0.74 kg). Moreover, the average daily gain recorded was statistically significant (p<0.001) for all experimental groups (E1:933.34±10.00 g, E2:945.56±8.82 g, E3:928.89±3.33 g, E4:790.00±20.62 g) comparative with the control group (M:746.67±8.66 g). The experimental groups E1 andE2 recorded the best performances for biometric traits: height at withers (HW), height at rump (HR), height of chest (HC) and length of rump (LR) comparative with the control group M (p<0.001). The obtained results demonstrates the usefulness of the crossbreeding system in dairy herds as an alternative to improve the sustainability of the dairy cows’ farms.