Resumen de Indicadores del alimentador automático en terneros de la raza Holstein Frisian en la región de entre Douro y Minho de Portugal
J.O.L. Cerqueira, S.M. Paço, C. Faria, Isabel Blanco Penedo, J. Cantalapiedra, J.P. Araújo
The age of weaning for calves of Holstein Friesian was 88.9±2.2 days, ranging from 85 days (Farm B) up to 97 days old (Farm D). From the analysis of the different indicators of the automatic feeder, it was found a negative correlation between the age and the thoracic perimeter (0.75) of the calves. Weak correlations were found between frecuency of visiting the automatic feed ± the velocity of suckling in calves (0.28) and the velocity of suckling in calves - thoracic perimeter (0.38). Parameters such as age and thoracic perimeter had negative correlations regarding the amount of ingested milk (-0.35 and -0.31 respetively). The two principal components explained 67.8% of the total variation. The first principal component represented 42.9% of the variability, integrated by the variables amount of ingested milk and the frecuency of visits. The second factor represented 24.9% of the total variance. The higher percentage of the variance is explained by thoracic perimeter, age and velocity of suckling.
