Influence of probiotic additive “Provagen concentrate” on the blood parameters and productivity of calves on the sixth month of age

The results of research on feeding the probiotic additive “Provagen concentrate” to young cattle as part of a feed mixture have been presented in the article. Changes in the blood morphobiochemical parameters and calf productivity at six months of age were studied. The calves of the control group received the main farm diet, and the herdmates of the experimental group as part of the feed mixture received the probiotic additive “Provagen concentrate” at a dose of 0.1 g/head/day. The results obtained indicate the highest intensity of physiological processes in the calves of the experimental group in contrast to the control herdmates. Feeding the test additive contributed to an increase in the total live weight of calves by 53.5 kg versus 50.7 kg in the control group; an increase in the average daily gain by 5.5 %, as well as a decrease in energy intake per 1 kg of gain by 5.17 %. At the end of the experiment blood samples were taken from the calves to study morphobiochemical parameters. It was found that the calves of the experimental group had an increase in the number of red blood cells by 10.45 %, hemoglobin by 4.68 %, total protein by 6.88 %, albumin by 9.13 %, globulin by 4.98 %, calcium by 20.0 % and phosphorus by 13.33 % compared to the control group. The number of white blood cells in the experimental group was 27.7 % less than in the control group, which indicated an improvement in immunity. Therefore, it can be concluded that the calves of the experimental group that received the probiotic additive used the metabolic energy more efficiently than the calves of the control group, and they also improved the immunological reactivity of the body during the rearing period.