TITLE:
Effect of Changes in Body Weight, Body Condition and Back Fat During Last Month of Pregnancy on the Reproductive Efficiency of Bos indicus Cows in the Tropics of Costa Rica
AUTHORS:
Jaime Galindo, Carlos S. Galina, Sandra Estrada, Juan José Romero
KEYWORDS:
Bos indicus; Cattle; Body Condition; Body Weight; Reproduction.
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Veterinary Medicine,
Vol.3 No.1,
March
21,
2013
ABSTRACT:
With the aim of evaluating how changes in the metabolic status in the last month of pregnancy affects reproductive efficiency, forty six Bos indicus multiparous cows (5.5 ± 2.4 parturitions), were used. Measurements of body weight (BW), body condition score (BCS) and dorsal back fat (BF) were taken in the last month of pregnancy, postpartum period previous to synchronization (average 50 d) and at breeding by natural mating following synchronization with a progestin (average 70 d). Average postpartum days to resumption to ovarian activity were 79.96 ± 16.5 d, and average postpartum days to conception was 88.5 ± 14 d. Days postpartum to resumption of the ovarian activity was positively correlated (0.51, P 0.01) with days postpartum to conception, also, days postpartum to conception was positively correlated with prepartum back fat (14 d before parturition) (0.44, P 0.05). It was observed that BF at calving which is an objective measurement had a low correlation with other productive variables such as BCS and BW (always less than 0.39). Body fat might be a more reliable indicator of the current metabolic status of the animal particularly in the last month of pregnancy when the indicators of BCS are somehow more difficult to interpret and subjective.