“Every cow receives prostaglandin at 10 days in milk (DIM) to help clean up the uterus,” explained Jeff McNeely of his farm’s prebreeding protocols and presynchronization program. “Cows experiencing a difficult calving, and those cows that had a retained placenta, will receive a second dose of prostaglandin seven days later. Then at Day 50, we start the double ovsynch protocol,” said the Brooklyn, Wis., dairyman.
“Cows are then checked by our veterinarian before we start the second ovsynch round, and if checked out okay, we follow through with it,” said the Platinum winner in this year’s Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council Awards competition. “We give two rounds of prostaglandin on Monday and Tuesday during the round of ovsynch when the cow is bred,” said McNeely.
All six of this year’s Platinum winners of the Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council’s awards share additional insight in this Hoard’s Dairyman Intel as well as the Round Table found on pages 695 to 697 of the November issue of Hoard’s Dairyman. This year’s competition drew the second-largest set of nominations to date from 16 U.S. states, Canada, and Italy.
Here are additional responses to the question, “Do you utilize any presynchronization programs?”
Emerald Spring Dairy, Plainview, Minn.: All cows receive double ovsynch for first breeding. Cows between 43 and 49 DIM receive GnRH on Friday. Seven days later, they receive prostaglandin, followed three days later with GnRH, completing first ovsynch. Seven days later, cows will receive GnRH, followed by prostaglandin seven days later (repeated 24 hours later), and timed A.I. three days after that.
Jer-Z-Boyz Ranch, Pixley, Calif.: We use prostaglandin (Lutalyse) at 38 DIM and second prostaglandin at 48 DIM. Cows following this protocol that do not show heats will go on a standard ovsynch program.
Plymouth Dairy, LeMars, Iowa: We use a modified 11-day presynch/72-hour co-synch:
1. Prostaglandin (Lutalyse) is given at 39 to 45 DIM
2. GnRH at 50 to 56 DIM (a veterinarian examines animals when administering GnRH and adds a CIDR if there is no CL or corpus luteum)
3. Prostaglandin given at 57 to 63 DIM
4. Prostaglandin given at 58 to 64 DIM
5. GnRH given at time of A.I. 60 to 66 DIM
Schilling Dairy, Darlington, Wis.: Every animal is given prostaglandin (Lutalyse) at 21 to 24 DIM to help clean up the uterus from metritis or endometritis. No formal presynchronization program is used.
Weisenbeck Dairy, Durand, Wis.: At this time, we do not use a presynch protocol.
This Hoard’s Dairyman Intel article is part of a nine-part series detailing top reproduction tips from the Platinum winning herds for the 10th annual Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council awards competition.
Click on the links below to view previous reports from this DCRC series:
They track fresh cow temps for 12 days
How they handle problem-breeding cows
We breed cows one week later, now
We confirm cows pregnant twice
Cowside records are a great tool for us
These benchmarks help us track our herd
We detect for heats morning, noon, and night
We rotate A.I. technicians on our farm
