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A note on a possible association between plasma β-carotene levels and conception rate in a group of winter-housed dairy cattle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

P. S. Jackson
P. S. Jackson
Affiliation:
Imperial Chemical Industries Limited, Pharmaceuticals Division, Alderley Park, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK10 4TF
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Abstract

Three groups of winter-housed Friesian cows were fed according to maintenance and production requirements on dairy cake and poor quality hay for 5 weeks (5 cows), 4 weeks (4 cows) or 2 weeks (3 cows). They were then treated as one group with two injections of 500 μg cloprostenol 11 days apart to synchronize oestrus, followed by insemination 72 and 96 h after the second treatment.

Blood samples were taken for β-carotene estimation 1 day before the first cloprostenol injection, 3 days before the second injection, and the day after the second insemination. Conception was confirmed by rectal examination. Haematological parameters and metabolic profiles for all 12 cows were in the normal range and condition scores showed no correlation with time of conception. However, plasma β-carotene levels declined rapidly and uniformly between the three sample points for all cows. The individual animal means were directly correlated with length of time on the described diet and with time of conception (P<005). A theory of β-carotene involvement in ovarian function is advanced.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 32 , Issue 1 , February 1981 , pp. 109 - 111
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1981

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