Effect of treatment of phantom cows with a progesterone-based synchrony programme

Aim: To determine the effect of a progesterone-based synchrony programme on the daily hazard of conception and the probability of being pregnant at the end of the seasonal mating period in cows not observed in oestrus within 35-49 days of insemination and that were diagnosed non-pregnant (phantom cows) on seasonally calving New Zealand dairy farms. Secondary aims were to determine the prevalence of phantom cows and estimate the proportion of phantom cows with a functional corpus luteum (CL) at enrolment. Methods: Phantom cows from 14 New Zealand commercial dairy farms were enrolled in a randomised, controlled trial. Cows that were artificially inseminated ≤14 days after mating start date and were not subsequently detected in oestrus, were presented for pregnancy diagnosis approximately 49 days after mating start date. Non-pregnant cows were diagnosed as phantom cows and randomly allocated to treatment and control groups. A milk sample was collected for progesterone assay to determine the presence of a functional CL. Treatment consisted of an injection of buserelin and insertion of an intravaginal device containing progesterone on Day 0, injections of dinoprost and equine chorionic gonadotrophin, and removal of the intravaginal device on Day 7, injection of buserelin on Day 9, and fixed time artificial insemination on Day 10. Treatment group cows were then mixed with bulls for the remainder of the seasonal mating period. Cows allocated to the control group were mated naturally by bulls. Statistical models were constructed to determine the effect of treatment on the daily hazard of conception and the probability of being pregnant at the end of the seasonal mating period. Results: A total of 378/4,214 (9.0%) cows presented for pregnancy diagnosis were diagnosed as phantom cows. A functional CL was diagnosed in 257/362 (71.0%) phantom cows. Median predicted enrolment to conception intervals were 33 (95% CI = 30-45) and 30 (95% CI = 28-33) days, for cows in the control and treatment groups, respectively. The odds of being pregnant at the end of mating were 1.70 (95% CI = 1.34-2.17) times greater for treated phantom cows than untreated phantom cows. Estimated marginal mean proportion pregnant at mating end date were 59.5 (95% CI = 47.9-70.1)% and 71.5 (95% CI = 62.6-79.0)% for control and treatment group cows, respectively. Conclusions: Treatment with a progesterone-based synchrony programme significantly increased the probability of phantom cows being pregnant at the end of the seasonal mating period.