Deepening cooperation: visit of higher education students of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine to GC "Eridon"
On November 21, 2025, senior higher education students of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine visited a private enterprise with developed dairy and meat cattle breeding. The trip was made possible by the initiative of the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. The students were accompanied by the acting head of the Department of Veterinary Reproductive Medicine Serhiy DERKACH and associate professor of the department Valeriy MAZUR. According to the program of the visit, the students got acquainted with the dairy farm. This is an ultra-modern milk production enterprise with robotic milking of cows.
The head of the dairy department, Mykola DZYUBAN, spoke about the features of the farm. The students listened to the speaker with interest and asked numerous questions, to which they received well-founded answers. The next location was the central office, where a delicious lunch, coffee, tea and sweets awaited the students. After a short rest, the bus moved to the next location, where a farm for raising beef cattle is located.
Here, the students learned about the difference in technologies for raising beef cattle compared to dairy cattle, about the characteristics of their maintenance, the state and prospects for the production of high-quality beef. The applicants showed great interest, because some of them visited a farm for the first time, where beef cattle are raised. This farm is very technological, maximally automated. It is equipped with the Rotex system - special cages with a narrow aisle, which ends with a machine for conducting ultrasound examinations of cows, as well as electronic scales for weighing animals, a self-propelled mixer for feeding, etc. The farm's specialists explained the differences in production processes on meat and dairy farms, which, first of all, are due to the physiological characteristics of dairy and meat cattle. A beef cow is a semi-wild animal, whose natural instincts are more preserved than those of dairy cows. It can even be somewhat aggressive. Such an animal has more pronounced maternal instincts, so it is dangerous to approach it and its calf in the first days after calving. In contrast, the main product of beef cattle farming is the calf. Therefore, unlike dairy cows, which practically do not see their calves, in beef cattle farming the calves remain with their mother until weaning at seven months of age. During this period, they freely consume their mother’s milk, and there is no milking of cows on such farms. The students asked questions about the treatment protocols and preventive measures used in beef cattle farming. The excursion lasted until late in the evening and could have continued, but it was time to return home. A pleasant surprise was the meeting of teachers and students with graduates of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the NUBiP of Ukraine who work on the farm. We express our sincere gratitude to Olga SPODA, who was responsible for organizing and conducting the excursion. We are sure that after this excursion many students have changed their views on productive livestock breeding, moreover, now they have a desire to undergo practical training at this enterprise, and in the future - to get a job.
