EFFICACY OF ESTRUS SYNCHRONIZATION PROTOCOLS IN NON-DESCRIPT CATTLE OF AZAD JAMMU AND KASHMIR DURING NON-BREEDING AND BREEDING SEASONS - B. Shahid; M. I. Khan; S. M. H. Andrabi; M. N. Khan (Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences, 2020)
The objective of the present study was to compare the efficacy of estrus synchronization protocols through estrus response and fertility rate in non-descript cattle of Azad Jammu and Kashmir during the non-breeding and breeding seasons. A total of 312 non-descript cows (192) and heifers (120) with body condition score ranging between 3.0 to 3.5 were randomly assigned to receive Ovsynch (159), CIDR alone (74) and CO-Synch+CIDR (79) protocols. Animals were inseminated at 16 h after the second GnRH injection in Ovsynch, and 48 h after CIDR removal in CIDR alone and CO-Synch+CIDR groups. The results revealed that during non-breeding season, the tendency for success of the Ovsynch protocol was higher in terms of inducing heat and conception rate (CR) in non-descript cows under farm (87.5%) and field (50.0%) conditions compared to CIDR alone and CO-Synch+CIDR groups (P<0.05). Whereas, in the case of non-descript heifers, the CO-Synch+CIDR protocol significantly increased the CR at timed artificial insemination (TAI) under farm (50.0%) and field (33.33%) conditions compared to Ovsynch and CIDR alone groups (P<0.05). During the breeding season, CR/TAI was almost similar in all groups of non-descript cows under field conditions (P>0.05). CO-Synch+CIDR treatment yielded the higher conception rates (46.15%) in non-descript heifers compared to Ovsynch and CIDR alone groups. It is concluded that treatment of cows with Ovsynch, and heifers with CO-Synch+CIDR protocols may lead to higher CR/TAI and thus have the potential to improve the reproductive performance that can accelerate the rate of genetic improvement through AI.
Keywords: journal article; Fertility; breeding season; estrus synchronization; non-descript cattle