Use of milk progesterone assay and rectal palpation to monitor postpartum anoestrus and the effect of PRID-PMSG treatment in Murrah buffaloes

摘要

Postpartum anoestrus is widely known to cause infertility in buffaloes. This study was conducted to determine the problem of postpartum anoestrus using rectal palpation and milk progesterone level in 8 Murrah buffaloes calved during late spring or early summer in the Kocatepe Agricultural Research Institute, Afyon, Turkey. Moreover, the pregnancy rates of experimental animals were investigated using a combined therapy of a progesterone releasing intravaginal device (PRID) and pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG). The ovaries of each buffalo were examined by rectal palpation once a week and the milk progesterone level was detected twice a week using enzyme immunoassay (EIA) during an oestrous cycle and the following week (for a period of a month). At the end of this period, the PRID was inserted and kept in the vagina for 12 days. Upon removal of the PRID, PMSG (750 IU) was administered intramuscularly. Prior to the PRID-PMSG treatment, there were no ovarian activities in any animals and theirmilk progesterone levels were between 0.12 and 0.94 ng/ml, except for one animal. Approximately 60 h following PMSG administration, all buffaloes (100%) showed signs of clinical oestrus. Gestation occurred in all buffaloes with a service per conception rate of 2.13. The results of the present study suggested that milk progesterone level is a useful tool to diagnose postpartum anoestrus and PRID-PMSG treatment induces ovaries, cures anoestrus, and facilitates gestation in Murrah buffaloes.