Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-02T21:15:01.872Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Milk progesterone profiles and factors affecting post partum ovarian activity in beef cows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

A. R. Peters  and
G. M. Riley
A. R. Peters
Affiliation:
Department of Physiology and Environmental Studies, University of Nottingham School of Agriculture, Sutton Bonington, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE12 5RD
G. M. Riley
Affiliation:
Department of Physiology and Environmental Studies, University of Nottingham School of Agriculture, Sutton Bonington, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE12 5RD
Get access

Abstract

Progesterone concentration was measured in milk samples collected twice or three times weekly from 157 suckling beef cows in three herds during the period from parturition until the resumption of ovarian cycles. The length of the post partum acyclic period varied between cows from 11 to 125 days. The length of the acyclic period did not differ between cows suckling one or two calves or between the two breeds of cow studied. There were significant negative correlations between the length of the acyclic period and 1. body weight at calving (r = −0·394; P<0·001) and 2. days from calving to the next longest day of the year (r=−0·782; P<0·001). Cows calving between February and April were acyclic significantly longer (83 days) than those calving between August and December (44 days; s.e. of difference = 3·5; P < 0·001). In one herd there was a significant negative correlation between the length of the acyclic period and order of calving both in spring (r=−0·379; P<0·05)- and autumn/winter (r=− 0·349; P < 0·05)-calving cows. Of the 40 spring-calving cows in the same herd, 17 were served naturally prior to any rise in milk progesterone concentrations and 11 of these conceived to this service.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 34 , Issue 2 , April 1982 , pp. 145 - 153
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1982

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Abdel-Rahim, S. E. A., Lowman, B. G. and Deas, D. W. 1980. Clinical application of milk progesterone in the diagnosis of subfertility in suckled cows. Vet. Rec. 106: 28–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyd, H. 1977. Anoestrus in cattle. Vet. Rec. 100: 150–153.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bulman, D. Claire. 1977. Progesterone levels and fertility of lactating cows. Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. Nott.Google Scholar
Bulman, D. Claire, Hewitt, D. S. and Lamming, G. E. 1978. The measurement of milk progesterone in suckled cows. Vet. Rec. 103: 161–162.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bulman, D. Claire and Lamming, G. E. 1978. Milk progesterone levels in relation to conception, repeat breeding and factors influencing acyclicity in dairy cows. J. Reprod. Fert. 54: 447–458.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carruthers, T. D. and Hafs, H. D. 1980. Suckling and fourtimes daily milking: influence on ovulation, estrus and serum luteinizing hormone, glucocorticoids and prolactin in post partum Holsteins. J. Anim. Sci. 50: 919–925.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chapman, A. B. and Casida, L. E. 1937. Analysis of variation in the sexual cycle and some of its component phases, with special reference to cattle, J. agric. Res. 54: 417–435.Google Scholar
Corah, L. R., Dunn, T. G. and Kaltenbach, C. C. 1975. Influence of prepartum nutrition on the reproductive performance of beef females and the performance of their progeny. J. Anim. Sci. 41: 819–824.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cumming, I. A. 1979. Synchronization of ovulation. In Sheep Breeding (ed. Tomes, G. L., Robertson, D. E. and Lightfoot, R. J.), 2nd ed., pp. 403–421. Butterworth, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diskin, M. G. and Sreenan, J. M. 1980. Fertilization and embryonic mortality rates in beef heifers after artificial insemination. J. Reprod. Fert. 59: 463–468.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dunn, T. G., Ingalls, J. E., Zimmerman, D. R. and Wiltbank, J. N. 1969. Reproductive performance of 2-yearold Hereford and Angus heifers as influenced by pre- and post-calving energy intake. J. Anim. Sci. 29: 719–726.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graves, W. E., Lauderdale, J. W., Hauser, E. R. and Casida, L. E. 1968. Relation of postpartum interval to pituitary gonadotropins, ovarian follicular development and fertility in beef cows. Res. Bull, agric. Exp. Stn Univ. Wis. 270:23–26.Google Scholar
Lamming, G. E. and Bulman, D. Claire. 1976. The use of milk progesterone radioimmunoassay in the diagnosis and treatment of subfertility in dairy cows. Br. vet. J. 132: 507–517.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lamming, G. E., Wathes, D. C. and Peters, A. R. 1981. Endocrine patterns of the post-partum cow. J. Reprod. Fert., Suppl. 30, pp. 155–170.Google Scholar
Oxenreider, S. L. 1968. Effects of suckling and ovarian function on postpartum reproductive activity in beef cows. Am. J. vet. Res. 29: 2099–2102.Google ScholarPubMed
Peters, A. R., Lamming, G. E. and Fisher, M. W. 1981. A comparison of plasma LH concentrations in milked and suckling post-partum cows. J. Reprod. Fert. 62: 567–573.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peters, A. R., Riley, G. M., Rahim, S. E. A. and Lowman, B. G. 1980. Milk progesterone profiles and the double injection of cloprostenol in post partum beef cows. Vet. Rec. 107: 174–177.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Short, R. E., Bellows, R. A., Moody, E. L. and Howland, B. E. 1972. Effects of suckling and mastectomy on bovine postpartum reproduction. J. Anim. Sci. 34: 70–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thibault, G., Courot, M., martinet, Lise, Mauleon, P., Du mesnil du buisson, F., Ortavant, R., Pelletier, J. and Signoret, J. P. 1966. Regulation of breeding season and estrous cycles by light and external stimuli in some mammals. J. Anim. Sci. 25: Suppl, pp. 119–142.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thibier, M., Petit, M. and Humblot, P. 1978. Use of progesterone concentrations in peripheral plasma or milk in cattle herd management. In Control of Reproduction in the Cow (ed. Sreenan, J. R.), pp. 576–595. Nijhoff, The Hague.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tribble, R. L., Sorensen, A. M. JR, Woodward, T. L., Connor, J. S., Beverly, J. R. and Fleeger, J. L. 1973. Serum progestins and luteinising hormone levels in nonsuckled primiparous heifers. Nature, Lond. 246: 494–495.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wettemann, R. P., Turman, E. J., Wyatt, R. D. and Totusek, R. 1978. Influence of suckling intensity on reproductive performance of range cows. J. Anim. Sci. 47: 342–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiltbank, J. N. 1970. Research needs in beef cattle reproduction. J. Anim. Sci. 31: 755–762.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiltbank, J. N. and Cook, A. C. 1958. The comparative reproductive performance of nursed cows and milked cows. J. Anim. Sci. 17: 640–648.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiltbank, J. N., Rowden, W. W., Ingalls, J. E. and Zimmerman, D. R. 1964. Influence of post-partum energy level on reproductive performance of Hereford cows restricted in energy intake prior to calving. J. Anim. Sci. 23: 1049–1053.CrossRefGoogle Scholar