PHYSIOLOGICAL REACTIONS AND ADAPTATION IN GRASSING CATTLE DURING AND AFTER THE PERIOD ON PASTURE GROUNDS HEAVY FERTILIZED OR MANAGED IN AN ENVIRONMENTALLY HEALTHY WAY

Growing dairy cattle from different breeds and a cross breed and adult dairy cattle were investigated before, during and after the period th e animals were put out on grass of pastures managed with heavy fertili zation or in an environmentally healthy way. The measures of jugular v enous blood samples, repeatedly taken from the same animals, were comp ared within and between the groups and correlated with performance tra its of the animals allowing to assess group and individual adaptation reactions to the different environments of growing and pregnant dairy cattle. Individual differences were more pronounced in young and older animals kept on pasture than in the same animals kept tied in a cow h ouse or group housed in a cattle barn. Differences of mean values betw een groups and within the groups between test points could be found in near all blood measures some being more obvious in the middle and the end of the time period the animals spent on the special pasture groun d.