Productive qualities and adaptation potential of Holstein cattle, depending on the level of stress resistance

 N. N. Menshchikov¹ , O. S. Chechenikhina², O. E. Likhodeevskaya¹ , O. A. Minina¹

¹ Ural State Agrarian University, Ekaterinburg, Russia

² Ural State University of Economics, Ekaterinburg, Russia

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Volume 26 No. 5

Date of paper submission: 16.02.2026, date of review: 19.03.2026, date of acceptance: 10.04.2026.

Published: 05/31/2026

Abstract. In the context of intensive dairy production, it is an urgent task to increase the resistance of animals to technological stress. The purpose of this study is to comprehensively assess the impact of stress resistance in Holstein cows, as determined by the synchrony coefficient of milk yield (Ksm), on their productive traits, and to develop practical methods for improving it in the context of intensive technologies. The research methods included zootechnical, physiological, and statistical analysis of data obtained from studies conducted in the period 2020–2025 on the livestock of two breeding farms (n = 156) in the Sverdlovsk region. A method for assessing stress resistance based on Ksm has been developed, and the influence of genetic (line affiliation and maternal productivity) and technological factors has been analyzed. The scientific novelty lies in the development and validation of a new stress resistance assessment criterion (Ksm) that is more informative than traditional methods. For the first time, the relationship between this trait and line affiliation has been quantified, and its inheritance has been proven to depend on maternal productivity. The main results showed that cows with high stress resistance (Ksm < 100 % of the average) significantly exceeded low-resistant cows in milk yield over the first 100 days of lactation by 13.8 % (p < 0.001). In the Reflection Sovering line, the proportion of highly resilient animals was 48.5 %, and the impact of resilience on lifetime productivity was more pronounced than in the Vis Back Ideal line (the difference in milk yield between highly and low-resilient groups was 20.9 % versus 7.8 %). A three-day step-by-step adaptation of first-calf heifers to robotic milking was found to be a more effective technological measure, resulting in a 10–12 % increase in milk yield over 305 days of lactation. These findings provide a foundation for scientifically based selection and optimization of technological processes in dairy farming.

Keywords: Holstein breed, stress, milk productivity, adaptation, selection, robotic milking, linear affiliation

For citation: Menshchikov N. N., Chechenikhina O. S., Likhodeevskaya O. E., Minina O. A. Productive qualities and adaptation potential of Holstein cattle, depending on the level of stress resistance. Agrarian Bulletin of the Urals. 2026; 26 (05): 903‒910. https://doi.org/10.32417/1997-4868-2026-26-05-903-910 (In Russ.) 

 

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