Optimizing ReBreed21 II: Fertility and reproductive efficiency in different parities during a shortened breeding season in beef cattle

João Paulo N Andrade; Pedro J L Monteiro; Alexandre B Prata; Adelino J Robl; José Neto; Beatriz Lippe; Heuller S Ribeiro; Diego Hartmman; Roberto Sartori; Milo C Wiltbank

doi:10.1016/j.theriogenology.2024.04.019

Optimizing ReBreed21 II: Fertility and reproductive efficiency in different parities during a shortened breeding season in beef cattle

Theriogenology. 2024 Apr 30:224:41-49. doi: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2024.04.019. Online ahead of print.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
² GlobalGen Vet Science, Jaboticabal, SP, 14887-360, Brazil.
³ Agropecuária Roncador, Querência, MT, 78643-000, Brazil.
⁴ Department of Animal Science, Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ), University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, SP, 13418-900, Brazil.
⁵ Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, 53706, USA. Electronic address: wiltbank@wisc.edu.

PMID: 38733813
DOI: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2024.04.019

Abstract

This study evaluated the efficiency of a rapid reinsemination program allowing timed AI (TAI) every 21d (ReBreed21) in a commercial beef cow-calf operation. Nelore females from different parities (n = 2085) were synchronized for first TAI (D0 = TAI) using an estradiol/progesterone (E2/P4) protocol and assigned to one of three reinsemination programs: Resynch33 (n = 753), traditional resynch program with second TAI at D42 after first TAI; ReBreed21 (n = 687); or ReBreed21+EC (n = 670). The ReBreed females (n = 1357) received intravaginal P4 insert on D12, on D19 P4 was removed, and a dose of equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) was administered, then, ReBreed21 females received 0.6 mg of EC (ReBreed21+EC) or nothing (ReBreed21) and on D21, nonpregnancy (NP) was determined using Doppler ultrasound to detect corpus luteum (CL) blood flow (BF) (NP: <25 % BF pixels of total CL area) and NP cows received immediate TAI and GnRH to induce ovulation. Pregnancy diagnosis was performed at D33 after TAI following all TAIs. Cows considered pregnant at D21, based on CL BF, but NP on D33 were designated False-Positives (FP) and false negatives (FN) were number of nonpregnant cows/heifers on d21 based on the CL BF found to subsequently be pregnant on D33 divided by the total number pregnant. Pregnancy/AI (P/AI) did not differ for the first TAI (55.1 %) among the treatments. Heifers had similar P/AI at the second AI in all groups and similar to the first AI. Primiparous had greater P/AI in ReBreed21+EC and Resynch33 at s TAI compared to ReBreed21, 51.7 %, 55.8 %, 34.2 %, respectively. Multiparous had greater P/AI at second TAI in Resynch33 (60.9 %) than ReBreed21 programs (34.7 %). The percentage FP and FN among ReBreed21 programs did not differ, 13.8 and 0.2 %, respectively. Overall accumulative pregnancies on D21 of the breeding season were greater for ReBreed21 and ReBreed21+EC than Resynch33 (69.7 %, 71.6 %, and 55.5 %, respectively). However, on D42 of the breeding season, only heifers had greater pregnancies in ReBreed21 programs than Resynch33 (73.3 %, 74.3.6 %, and 63.2 %, respectively). Average days to pregnancy were less (P = 0.01) for ReBreed21 and ReBreed21+EC than Resynch33. Thus, the ReBreed21 strategy can improve the efficiency of TAI programs in beef cattle. Of interest, ReBreed21 was particularly effective in nulliparous, somewhat effective in primiparous when EC was added to the program, but relatively ineffective in multiparous beef cattle.

Keywords: Bos indicus; Breeding season; Doppler ultrasound; Timed AI.