Onset of oestrus and fertility of dairy heifers and suckled beef cows treated with prostaglandin F2α

Abstract

SUMMARYSuckled cows (average 70 days post partum) and British Friesian dairy heifers (13 to 24 months of age) were injected intramuscularly with prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α) on two occasions 12 days apart, to synchronize oestrus and ovulation. The cattle were inseminated twice, 70 and 88 hr after the second injection.Injections of 20, 30 or 40 mg of PGF2α were equally effective in 59 heifers; after the first injection, 11 failed to show oestrus during the following 10 days and 10 began oestrus within 36 hr. The majority of the heifers (59%) began oestrus during the 3rd or 4th day after the first injection of PGF2α. After the second injection of PGF2α, all but two heifers showed oestrus and the majority (88%) began oestrus in 3 to 6 days.Injections of 30 or 60 mg of PGF2α were equally effective in 66 suckled cows; after the second injection of PGF2α, 68% of the cows began oestrus from the 3rd to the 6th day but 10 (15%) cows failed to show oestrus.Fertility was highest among heifers and cows which began oestrus during 3 to 5 days after the second injection of PFG2α, 54% of the treated heifers and 42% of the treated cows calving during the expected intervals. Nineteen of the 20 control heifers were mated and 25 of 33 control cows were observed in oestrus and inseminated during 3-week or 25-day breeding periods. Eleven (55%) control heifers and 14 (42%) control cows calved during the expected intervals. Thus, fertility of the treated cattle inseminated at predetermined intervals after PGF2α was equivalent to that in the controls.