Effects of progesterone presynchronization and eCG on pregnancy rates to GnRH-based, timed-AI in beef cattle

Three experiments were conducted to determine the effects of low-dose progesterone presynchronization and eCG on pregnancy rates to GnRH-based, timed-AI (TAI) in beef cattle (GnRH on Day 0, PGF(2alpha) on Day 7, with GnRH and TAI on Day 9, 54-56 h after PGF(2alpha)). Experiments 1 and 2 were 2 x 2 factorials with presynchronization (with or without a once-used CIDR; Days -15 to 0 in Experiment 1 and Days -7 to 0, with PGF(2alpha) at insertion, in Experiment 2), and with or without 400 IU eCG on Day 7 in suckled cows. In Experiment 3, suckled cows and nulliparous heifers were either presynchronized with a twice-used CIDR (Days -5 to 0) and PGF(2alpha) at insertion, or no treatment prior to insertion of a new CIDR (Days 0-7). Presynchronization increased (P<0.05) ovulation rate to GnRH on Day 0 (75.0% vs 48.7%, 76.7% vs 55.0%, and 60.0% vs 36.1% for Experiments 1, 2, and 3, respectively), increased the diameter of the preovulatory follicle in Experiments 1 and 2, and increased the response to PGF(2alpha) (regardless of parity) in Experiment 1 (P<0.01), and in primiparous cows in Experiment 2 (P<0.01). Effects of presynchronization on pregnancy rates (53.4% vs 54.1%, 57.7% vs 45.3%, and 54.3% vs 44.4% for Experiments 1, 2, and 3, respectively) were influenced by parity and eCG (P<0.05). Treatment with eCG had no effect (P>0.05) on the diameter of the preovulatory follicle (Experiment 1), or the response to PGF(2alpha) (Experiments 1 and 2), but tended (P=0.08) to improve pregnancy rates, especially in primiparous cows that were not presynchronized (P<0.01). However, the effects of eCG and presynchronization were not additive.