Female-female influences on the duration of the post-partum anoestrous period in beef cows

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted to determine whether female to female influences could reduce the duration of the post-partum anoestrous period in beef cows. In experiment 1, cows were housed from calving, either in individual stalls, which precluded physical contact with other cows (treatment I; no. = 19) or as a group, with a cow in oestrus introduced to the group twice per week (treatment G; no. = 18). The percentage of cows cycling by day 50 post partum was similar for both treatments, but at 91 days post partum was significantly higher (P < 0-05) in the G than in the I cows (89% v. 58%). In experiment 2, cows were housed in individual stalls from calving and exposed twice per week to either cervical mucus collected from cows in oestrus (treatment M; no. = 21) or distilled water (treatment W; no. = 24). The percentage of cows cycling by 70 days post partum was similar in both treatments but by 130 days there were significantly more (P < 0-05) M cows cycling (86% v. 58%). In neither experiment were LH profiles at 22,43 or 64 days influenced by treatment.The results indicate that cervical mucus of cows in oestrus contains pheromone(s) which can reduce the postpartum anoestrous period in beef cows with extended anoestrous periods.

Resumption of Post‐partum Ovarian Activity Monitored by Plasma Progesterone in Anoestrous Zebu (Bos indicus) Cattle Following Temporary Weaning and Progestogen Treatment

“…An exciting finding was the synchrony in resumption of ovarian activity observed between cows pharmacologically manipulated and non-treated, suckled cows, which suggests that carry-over effects of treatment (biostimulation) of the latter group were occurring. In fact, Wright et al (1994) showed that anoestrous cows kept with cows in oestrus resumed ovarian activity earlier. The authors are currently trying to determine whether such an approach can be used to promote the onset of ovarian activity during the post-partum period in nontreated, suckled Zebu cows.…”

Incidence of reproductive and production diseases of cross-bred dairy cattle in Bangladesh

“…Suckling and nutrition are by far the most important factors determining the length of postpartum anoestrus (Walters et al, 1982;Randel, 1990). Season, breed, age, parity, milk yield and biostimulation (presence of a bull and or cows in oestrus) also have role in determining the length of postpartum anoestrus (Hansen, 1983;Fonseca et al, 1983;Garel et al, 1987;Wright et al 1994). In our study seasonal variation in the cumulative incidence of anoestrus was also noted: highest in rainy (0.34%) and lowest in winter (0.21%).…”

Anoestrus in Dairy Cows: Causes, Prevalence and Clinical Forms

“…The presence of a bull ( Zalesky et al 1984) and (or) cows in oestrus ( Izard and Vandenbergh 1982; Wright et al 1994) accelerate the initiation of oestrus cycles in anoestrous cows, thereby, reducing the postpartum interval. However, nobody knows the mechanism involved ( Custer et al 1990).…”