FERTILITY RESPONSE USING MODIFIED OVSYNCH PROTOCOL PRETREATED WITH INSULIN IN DELAYED PUBERTAL CATTLE HEIFERS

Abstract

Puberty is said to be attained when the sexual organs are functionally matured and are able to release gametes. Delayed puberty reduces the reproductive performance of heifers by delaying entry into breeding herds, reduces the number of total calves and milk yield per cow produced over a lifetime, and culls valuable germplasm, resulting in significant economic losses for small-scale and marginal farmers as well as the dairy industry as a whole. Hormonal therapies offer a high therapeutic effect in improving reproductive efficacy in infertile animals, but only when the animals are in good nutritional condition. Insulin treatment has been shown to increase the size of follicles in animals. Insulin stimulates the formation of more gonadotrophin-responsive follicles. The oestrus synchronization and conception rate were recorded 66.66% and 50% in group-I; 100% and 83.33% in group-II; 83.33% and 66.66% in group-III, respectively. The observed excellent, good, fair, poor and nil synchronization pattern was 16.66%, 16.66%, 16.66%, 16.66%, and 33.33% in group-I; 50%, 33.33%, 16.66%, 00.00% and 00.00% in group-II; 16.66%, 16.66%, 33.33%, 16.66%, and 16.66% in group-III, respectively. The conception rate after fixed time insemination was recorded highest in group-II (83.33%) as compared to group-III (66.66%) and group-I (50%). The mean serum progesterone concentration (mg/ml) ranged between 0.49±0.074 to 0.60±0.059 on day 0, 0.47±0.055 to 0.62±0.048 on day 10. The mean serum calcium concentration (mg/dl) ranged between 9.90±0.383 to 9.97±0.395 on day 0, and 9.75±0.500 to 9.99±0.338 on day 10. The mean serum phosphorus concentration (mg/dl) ranged between 4.89±0.195 to 4.95±0.288 on day 0, and 4.85±0.188 to 4.94±0.220 on day 10.