UDC 636.083.14+579.62
DOI 10.36461/NP.2025.76.4.017

EFFECT OF DIHYDRATE PHOSPHOGYPSUM (APAGYPSUM) USE ON DAIRY CATTLE BREEDING
V.A. Zdorovinin, Doctor of Veterinary Sciences, Professor;
A.V. Ostapchuk, Candidate of Biological Sciences, Associate Professor;
L.L. Oshkina, Candidate of Agricultural Sciences, Associate Professor
Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education "Penza State Agrarian University", Penza, Russia, tel. (8412)628-151, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This article deals with the effect of dihydrate phosphogypsum (Apagypsum) as bedding for cattle on quality indicators of milk and microbial contamination of animals’ skin near carpal and tarsal joints, hooves and udder.
Current research was carried out at the Ramzai Experimental Farm with laboratory testing in the Penza Regional Veterinary Laboratory. Skin swabs in the areas near carpal and tarsal joints, udder, and hooves were taken on the 1st, 16th, and 29th days of the experiment.
The microbiological results of skin and hoof swabs in the control and experimental groups varied greatly during the experiment.
Staphylococci and coliform bacteria were detected in all swab samples in both the experimental and control groups. Streptococci were not detected in animals from either the experimental or control groups at baseline and on the 16th day of the experiment. On the 29th day of the experiment, streptococci were found in all samples.
Laboratory tests of the raw milk samples taken before and within the experiment did not reveal any excess of the maximum permissible values for this type of product.
Salmonella bacteria were not detected in 25 grams of the raw milk samples within the experiment in either the control or experimental groups of cows. The results showed that the experimental group experienced a more than sevenfold reduction in microbial counts in milk compared to the control group.
It was observed on the microbiological results of bedding that in all samples based on dihydrate phosphogypsum, the values of microbiological indicators were almost identical.
Keywords: dairy cattle, bedding, phosphogypsum, hygiene in animal husbandry, milk microflora, bacterial contamination.

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