Effects of 21-day treatment with melengestrol acetate (MGA) with or without subsequent prostaglandin F2 alpha on synchronization of estrus and fertility in beef cattle |
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| Authors: | D A Coleman F F Bartol M G Riddell |
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| Institution: | Dept. Anim. & Dairy Sci., Auburn University, AL 36849. |
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| Abstract: | Beef cattle were treated to synchronize estrus using one of three procedures, and effects on subsequent endocrine responses and fertility were studied. Procedures were 1) feeding .5 mg.head-1.d-1 of melengestrol acetate (MGA) for 21 d (M), 2) feeding .5 mg.head-1.d-1 of melengestrol acetate for 21 d followed 14 d later by a single injection of prostaglandin F2 alpha (M + P) and 3) two injections of prostaglandin (PGF) 14 d apart (P). In Exp. 1, 94 beef cows were assigned to be artificially inseminated 12 h after detection of estrus. Procedures for synchronizing estrus did not affect the proportion of cows observed in estrus within 7 d (mean = 70.2%). However, conception rate of cows treated with MGA alone was lower (P less than .01) than that of cows treated with PGF alone (31.8 vs 78.3%). The conception rate of cows in the M + P group was intermediate (57.1%) but greater than that of cows treated with MGA alone (P less than .10). In Exp. 2, 18 heifers were observed for estrus four times daily and bled daily from 1 wk before predicted estrus until second estrus or 35 d post-treatment. Heifers treated with MGA alone maintained lower concentrations of progesterone and higher concentrations of estradiol-17 beta before first estrus than heifers treated with MGA and PGF or PGF alone (P less than .01). Conception rate following insemination was lower after long-term feeding of MGA than after two injections of PGF. Delaying insemination until after a PGF-shortened cycle 14 d after MGA resulted in an intermediate conception rate.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) |
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