Ovsynch Management in 900 Cow Dairy Herd

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Ovsynch Management in 900 Cow Dairy Herd

• Rudi Meyer
• Krista Schiller
• Kelsi Hendrickson
• Nella Bernardoni

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Summary

• 900-cow dairy farm
• Lack of sufficient labor for heat detection
• Does not want clean up bull
• Milk production should peak in November
• Results in poor reproductive management

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Treatment Regime

• We plan to increase reproductive success by using
  an ovsynch protocol

Timed AI
PGF
GnRH
GnRH
7 days
48 hrs
8-18 hrs
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Drugs to be administered

• PGF2a
• Target Cell Corpus Luteum
• Cellular Response Calcium second messenger
• Feedback Negative
• GnRH
• Target Cell Follicle
• Cellular Response Calcium second messenger
• Feedback Positive

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Reproductive State Limitations

• Any cow past 60 days parturition can be on the
  Ovsynch protocol.
• Cows that are already pregnant should NOT be on
  Ovsynch.
• Cows that may be pregnant should not be on
  Ovsynch because the PGF will abort the embryo.
• All other reproductive states will be
  synchronized by the protocol.

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Checking for Pregnancy

• If the cow does not conceive after the first
  round of Ovsynch she will come into heat in 21
  days. Management should watch for signs of heat
  around this time.
• If signs of heat at 21 days are missed, the only
  other way is to wait for a pregnancy check
• Minimum of 35 days by rectal palpation
• Minimum 12 days by ultrasound, although most
  accurate at 28 days.

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Synchronization

• To tell if Ovsynch is working for this particular
  dairy farm is important to note whether
  management can get their cows to calve in time
  for peak milk production to occur in November.
• Average peak production occurs 55-60 DIM.
• The cows in this herd should calve in early
  September.

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Herd Management

• The labor needs to implement this cycle
  management are administering the drugs, recording
  data and watching the cattle's behavior.  Enough
  people should be on hand to do these jobs without
  rushing through them.  Good communication between
  workers and good record keeping is a must. 
• Additional preg checks can be performed around
  100 days to ensure no loss of the fetus, which is
  common in early gestation of dairy cattle.
• If all inseminations are recorded, management
  should be able to estimate when the cow is due to
  calve. This allows for removal from the herd
  into a calving pen. Labor should monitor the
  cows that are due for complications.