The aim of the present research was to study the influence of the calving season in conditions of the upcoming climate changes on the productive traits of dairy cows in Bulgaria. The study was conducted on a cattle farm with a capacity of 500 dairy cows, which were loose-housed in open free-stall barns (shed-type). In the research, 286 lactations of 199 Holstein cattle from the studied farm were included. The cows with the highest average milk yield for lactation—8522.2 kg—calved in the spring, while the cows with the lowest milk yield—8082.7 kg—calved in the summer. Cows that calved in the spring had the highest maximum daily milk yield (lactation peak)—38 kg—whereas cows that calved in the summer had the lowest—35.7 kg. Regarding the composition indicators of milk, fat, and protein content, no significant effect of the calving season was found, but there was a tendency for the lowest values for the percentage of fat in milk to be reported for cows that calved in the summer—3.68%—and the highest for those calved in the spring—3.71%. Regarding the percentage of protein in the milk, the lowest values were observed for cows that calved in autumn—3.19%—and the highest for cows that calved in summer—3.27%.

Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, the scientific journal of the Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic

The study was carried out in the milking parlor of a dairy cattle farm consisting 500 animals from Holstein-Friesian breed in Bulgaria. The animals were housed in a freestall dairy barn and milked in double-8 milking parlor “herringbone” type. The level of noise was measured three times in every milking (at the beginning, in the middle and at the finishing of the milking) in the morning, midday and evening milking every month for one year. The noise level in the working environment was recorded by noise meter„ Lutron SL-4023SD. The highest noise levels were reported in summer and winter, with maximum values up to 78.3 dB. It was found that regardless of the season during the morning milking the lowest noise levels in the milking parlor were reported (from 70.37 to 70.46 dB). The average values for noise level for an 8-hour working day by seasons varied from 69.87 dB to 74.36 dB, with the highest reported value for the winter season.

The aim of the research was to study the influence of the calving season in the conditions of the upcoming climate changes on the productive traits of dairy cows in Bulgaria. The study was conducted in a cattle farm with a capacity of 500 dairy cows, loose-housed in open free stall barn (shed type). In the research 286 lactations of 199 Holstein cows from the studied farm were included. The cows with the highest average milk yield for lactation calved in the spring - 8522.2 kg, and the cows with the lowest milk yield calved in the summer - 8082.7 kg. Cows calved in the spring had the highest maximum daily milk yield (lactation peak) - 38 kg, and the lowest in the summer - 35.7 kg. Regarding the composition indicators of milk, fat and protein content, no significant effect of the calving season was found, but a tendency for the lowest values for the percentage of fat in milk was reported for cows calved in the summer - 3.68%, and the most - high for those calved in the spring - 3.71%. Regarding the percentage of protein in the milk, the lowest values were for cows that calved in autumn - 3.19%, and the highest for cows that calved in summer - 3.27%.