Combined use of tail-paint and prostaglandin in cyclic dairy cows: proposal to maximize efficiency and accuracy in heat detection
A description is given of a simple and practical method to improve reproductive efficiency, through increasing heat detection by use of tail-paint and prostaglandin F2alfa. Three hundred eighty-three cycling cows were painted on the base of the tail 28 d prior to the date of first service (DFS) with a first color (red), then every 7 d painting with a different color (2nd: blue, 3rd: yellow, and 4th: green) was applied only to animals observed each week with tail-paint removed (sign of estrus), thus four colors were used until the DFS. From DFS (day 0) every animal seen or considered to be in heat (tail-paint removed), as detected by twice a day readings and visual observations was inseminated and painted according to the same sequence of four colors weekly. On day 0 cows with the 4th color were injected with PGF2α; on day 7 the group painted on day 0 with the red color was injected and so on to complete the four color groups of the first cycle. During the first week 49.6% of the cows were detected in estrus and 91.9% during the first 3 wk with 26.8%, and 51.1% pregnancy rate, respectively. The final pregnancy rate on day 70 was 89.5%; the average interval to the first insemination was 10.4 d (median = 8), the interval to conception 21.2 d (median = 16), with 1.7 doses of semen used per pregnancy. In conclusion, it is possible to achieve a considerable reproductive efficiency with process technologies. If heat detection is the most deficient part of reproductive management, it is debatable if progress could better come from new technologies or by finding solutions in the ones that already exist.
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| Format: | Digital revista |
| Language: | spa |
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Asociacion Latinoamericana de Produccion Animal
2016
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| Online Access: | https://ojs.alpa.uy/index.php/ojs_files/article/view/2381 |
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| Summary: | A description is given of a simple and practical method to improve reproductive efficiency, through increasing heat detection by use of tail-paint and prostaglandin F2alfa. Three hundred eighty-three cycling cows were painted on the base of the tail 28 d prior to the date of first service (DFS) with a first color (red), then every 7 d painting with a different color (2nd: blue, 3rd: yellow, and 4th: green) was applied only to animals observed each week with tail-paint removed (sign of estrus), thus four colors were used until the DFS. From DFS (day 0) every animal seen or considered to be in heat (tail-paint removed), as detected by twice a day readings and visual observations was inseminated and painted according to the same sequence of four colors weekly. On day 0 cows with the 4th color were injected with PGF2α; on day 7 the group painted on day 0 with the red color was injected and so on to complete the four color groups of the first cycle. During the first week 49.6% of the cows were detected in estrus and 91.9% during the first 3 wk with 26.8%, and 51.1% pregnancy rate, respectively. The final pregnancy rate on day 70 was 89.5%; the average interval to the first insemination was 10.4 d (median = 8), the interval to conception 21.2 d (median = 16), with 1.7 doses of semen used per pregnancy. In conclusion, it is possible to achieve a considerable reproductive efficiency with process technologies. If heat detection is the most deficient part of reproductive management, it is debatable if progress could better come from new technologies or by finding solutions in the ones that already exist. |
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