Environmental effects on progesterone profile measures of dairy cow fertility

Environmental effects on fertility measures early in lactation, such as the interval from calving to first luteal activity (CLA), proportion of samples with luteal activity during the first 60 days after calving (PLA) and interval to first ovulatory oestrus (OOE) were studied. In addition, traditional measurements of fertility, such as pregnancy to first insemination, number of inseminations per service period and interval from first to last insemination were studied as well as associations between the early and late measurements. Data were collected from an experimental herd during 15 years and included 1106 post-partum periods from 191 Swedish Holsteins and 325 Swedish Red and White dairy cows. Individual milk progesterone samples were taken twice a week until cyclicity and thereafter less frequently. First parity cows had 14.8 and 18.1 days longer CLA (LS-means difference) than second parity cows and older cows, respectively. Moreover, CLA was 10.5 days longer for cows that calved during the winter season compared with the summer season and 7.5 days longer for cows in tie-stalls than cows in loose-housing system. Cows treated for mastitis and lameness had 8.4 and 18.0 days longer CLA, respectively, compared with healthy cows. OOE was affected in the same way as CLA by the different environmental factors. PLA was a good indicator of CLA, and there was a high correlation (-0.69) between these two measurements. Treatment for lameness had a significant influence on all late fertility measurements, whereas housing was significant only for pregnancy to first insemination. All fertility traits were unfavourably associated with increased milk production. Regression of late fertility measurements on early fertility measurements had only a minor association with conception at first AI and interval from first to last AI for cows with conventional calving intervals, i.e. a 22 days later, CLA increased the interval from first to last insemination by 3.4 days. Early measurements had repeatabilities of 0.14-0.16, indicating a higher influence by the cow itself compared with late measurements, which had repeatabilities of 0.09-0.10. Our study shows that early fertility measurements have a possibility to be used in breeding for better fertility. To improve the early fertility of the cow, there are a number of important factors that have to be taken into account.