The article describes the long-term research work on the study of fodder and feeding of farm animals,
control of biochemical and physiological processes of digestion; the work is conducted by
researchers of the Northwestern Dairy Farming and Grassland Management Research Institute.
Agricultural enterprises of the Vologda Oblast using different methods of cow management
and milking address the research objectives in different time periods. The natural conditions of
the Northern region of the Russian Federation bison nutrition was studied in connection with
acclimatization in the Vologda Oblast. The research scheme is based on assessment of fodder
chemical composition, nutrient value and quality, structure of fodder diets differentiated by
level of milk production and biochemical blood parameters. Thus, the purpose of the present
paper is to study and summarize the research materials of the team at the Department of
Fodder and Farm Animal Feeding (previously – Department of Animal Husbandry). For the
fi rst time the authors comprehensively reviewed the research subjects in this area of previous
years in the Vologda Oblast. Using the method of description we present the research results;
we have found out that farms use different types of cow feeding, mainly the concentrated silage
type in which the weight content of concentrate is up to 69%. Diets represent a rich variety of
fodder and balancing additives characterized by a large variety of chemical composition and
nutritional value. In the course of describing the research work carried out by the team of the
Department, it has been revealed that the systems of full feeding of dairy cows in the European
North of Russia were developed taking into account the infl uence of various factors on animal’s
productivity. Research into the development of standardized feeding of high-yielding cows are
currently being developed taking into account the biochemical status of an animal at various
and way of animal management
Keywords
barley, peas, fodder, corn, mill cake, premix, nutrient value, milk, feeding, blood biochemistry, diet type, metabolism, russian black pied cows, bison, acclimatization