Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica logoLink to Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica
. 1995 Dec 1;36(4):533–542. doi: 10.1186/BF03547667

The Effect of Energy Balance on Ovarian Activity in a Herd of Norwegian Cattle

Sammenheng mellom energibalanse og ovarieaktivitet i en besetning med norske melkekyr

K Ljøkjel 114,✉, G Klemetsdal 114, E Prestlokken 114, E Ropstad 214
PMCID: PMC8095402  PMID: 8669380

Abstract

The study involved 34 primiparous cows fed ad libitum grass silage and fixed amounts of concentrate per cow and stage of lactation. It revealed that number of days from calving to maximum progesterone concentration in first luteal phase was negatively related to (p<0.05) energy balance summarized over weeks 3-12 post-partum. One standard deviation improvement of the summarized energy balance relative to the mean reduced the length of the anovulatory period by 12 days. Similarly, an improved energy balance enhanced progesterone secretion during the oestrus cycle and early pregnancy, as measured by 3 variables; 1) maximum progesterone concentration in first luteal phase, 2) cumulative progesterone secretion bounded by the maximum concentrations in first and in third luteal phase and 3) cumulative progesterone secretion in the first month of pregnancy. All results were supported by the estimated regression coefficients of the 4 ovarian activity variables on summarized non-estrified fatty acids and ac-etoacetate variables.

Keywords: anovulatory period, blood metabolites, dairy cattle, feeding variables, milk progesterone, post-partum

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (2.4 MB).

Acknowledgments

The antiserum used for progesterone analysis was kindly donated by Dr. G.S. Pope. We thank Claes-Gøran Fristedt and Ann-Lill Hafne for excellent technical assistance.

References

  1. Andresen, Onstad O. Brunstkontroll og drekti-ghetskontroll hos ku ved hjelp av progesteronbes-temmelse i melk. (Heat and pregnancy control in cows using progesterone values in milk.) Norsk Veterinasrtidsskrift. 1979;91:411–421. [Google Scholar]
  2. Baishya N, Ball Ρ J, Leaver JD, Pope GS. Fertility of lactating cows inseminated after treatment with cloprostenol. Br. Vet. J. 1980;136:227–239. doi: 10.1016/S0007-1935(17)32286-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Butler WR, Everett RW, Coppock CE. The relationships between energy balance, milk production and ovulation in postpartum Holstein cows. J. Anim. Sci. 1981;53:742–748. doi: 10.2527/jas1981.533742x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Butler WR, Smith RD. Interrelationships between energy balance and postpartum reproductive function in dairy cattle. J. Dairy Sci. 1989;72:767–783. doi: 10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(89)79169-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Canfield RW, Butler WR. Energy balance and pulsatile LH secretion in early postpartum dairy cattle. Dom. Anim. Endocr. 1990;7:323–330. doi: 10.1016/0739-7240(90)90038-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Ekern A, et al. Nytt system for energivurdering av for til drovtyggere. (A new system for energy evaluation of food for ruminants.) Norsk Landbruks-forskning. 1991;5:273–277. [Google Scholar]
  7. Gau N. Acetoacetic acid. In: Pesce AJ, Kaplan LA, editors. Methods in Clinical Chemistry. Washington D.C.: The C.V Mosby Company; 1987. pp. 97–100. [Google Scholar]
  8. Harrison RO, Young JW, Freeman AE, Ford SP. Effects of lactational level on reactivation of ovarian function, and interval from parturition to first visual oestrus and conception in high-producing Holstein cows. Anim. Prod. 1989;49:23–28. [Google Scholar]
  9. Johnson RA, Wichern DW. Applied multivariate statistical analysis. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall; 1982. p. 594. [Google Scholar]
  10. Kaplan LA. Urea. In: Pesce AJ, Kaplan LA, editors. Methods in Clinical Chemistry. Washington D.C.: The C.V Mosby Company; 1987. pp. 22–26. [Google Scholar]
  11. Kovacevic R, Krsmanovik L, Marie D, Perkucin R, Veselinovic S: Investigation of hormone profiles in dairy cattle with a view to controlling fertility and increasing reproductive efficiency. In: Isotope aided studies on livestock productivity in Mediterranean and North African countries. Proceedings of the final research co-ordination meeting, Rabat 1987, p. 255–273.
  12. Lucy MC, Staples CR, Thatcher WW, Erickson PS, Cleale RM, Firkins JL, Clark JH, Murphy MR, Brodie BO. Influence of diet composition, dry-matter intake, milk production and energy balance on time of post-partum ovulation and fertil-ity in dairy cows. Anim. Prod. 1992;54:323–331. [Google Scholar]
  13. Madsen J, Hvelplund T, Weisbjerg MR, Bertilsson J, Olsson I, Spröndly R, Harstad OM, Volden H, Tu-ori M, Varvikko T, Huhtanen P, Olafsson BL. The AAT/PBV protein evaluation system for ruminants. A revision. Norwegian J. Agrie. Sci. 1995;19:5–37. [Google Scholar]
  14. Marion GB, Gier HT. Factors affecting bovine ovarian activity after parturition. J. Anim. Sci. 1968;27:1621–1626. doi: 10.2527/jas1968.2761621x. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  15. Mulder CM, Schouten JA, Popp-Snijeders Non-es-terified fatty acids. J. Clin. Chem. Biochem. 1983;21:823. doi: 10.1515/cclm.1983.21.12.823. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Nakamura T, Klopfenstein TJ, Owen FG, Britton RA, Grant RJ, Winowiski TS. Nonenzymatically browned soybean meal for lactating dairy cows. J. Dairy Sci. 1992;75:3519–3523. doi: 10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(92)78127-2. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  17. Roche JF, Crowe MA, Roland MP. Postpartum anoes-trus in dairy and beef cows. Anim. Reprod. Sci. 1992;28:371–378. doi: 10.1016/0378-4320(92)90123-U. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  18. SAS Institute Inc. SAS/STAT Guide for Personal Computers. 6. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc.; 1987. p. 1028. [Google Scholar]
  19. SAS Institute Inc. Changes and enhancements, Realease 6.07. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc.; 1992. SAS Technical Report P-229, SAS/STAT Software; p. 620. [Google Scholar]
  20. Savio JD, Boland MP, Hynes N, Roche JF. Resumption of follicular activity in the early post-partum period of dairy cows. J. Reprod. Fert. 1990;88:569–579. doi: 10.1530/jrf.0.0880569. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Spicer LI, Tucker WB, Adams GD. Relationships between energy balance, insulin-like growth factor-1 and estrous behaviour during early lactation in dairy cows. Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station. Anim. Sci. 1990;MP-129:338–345. [Google Scholar]
  22. Staples CR, Thatcher WW, Clark JH. Relationship between ovarian activity and energy status during the early postpartum period of high producing dairy cows. J. Dairy Sci. 1990;73:938–947. doi: 10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(90)78750-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Stevenson JS, Britt JH. Relationships among luteinizing hormone, estradiol, progesterone, glucocorticoids, milk yield, body weight and postpartum ovarian activity in Holstein cows. J. Anim. Sci. 1979;48:570–577. doi: 10.2527/jas1979.483570x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Vesanen M, Isomaa V, Bolton NJ, Alanko M, Vihko R. Bovine steroid hormone and SHBG concentrations postpartum and during the oestrous cycle. Acta Vet. Scand. 1990;31:459–469. doi: 10.1186/BF03547529. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Villa-Godoy A, Hughes TL, Emery RS, Chapín LT, FogwellRL Association between energy balance and luteal function in lactating dairy cows. J. Dairy Sci. 1988;71:1063–1072. doi: 10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(88)79653-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Whitmore HL, Tyler WJ, Casida LE. Effects of early postpartum breeding in dairy cattle. J. Anim. Sci. 1974;38:339–346. doi: 10.2527/jas1974.382339x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica are provided here courtesy of BMC

RESOURCES