Reproductive performance of dairy cows in various programmed breeding systems including OvSynch and combinations of gonadotropin-releasing hormone and prostaglandin F2 alpha.

In Experiment 1, 308 Holstein cows were assigned randomly to four treatments: 1) GnRH injection followed in 7 d by PGF2 alpha injection, then another GnRH injection 33 h later, and artificial insemination (AI) 16 to 18 h after the second GnRH injection; 2) GnRH injection followed in 7 d by PGF2 alpha injection and AI only after detected estrus; 3) injections of PGF2 alpha 14 d apart, GnRH injection 33 h after the second PGF2 alpha injection, and AI 16 to 18 h later; and 4) injections of PGF2 alpha 14 d apart, AI only after detected estrus following the second PGF2 alpha injection or, in the absence of detected estrus, at 80 h after the second PGF2 alpha injection. In Experiment 2, 227 Holstein cows were assigned randomly to two treatments: 1) GnRH injection followed in 7 d by PGF2 alpha injection, then another GnRH injection 48 h later, and AI 16 to 18 h after the second GnRH injection; and 2) GnRH injection followed in 7 d by PGF2 alpha injection and AI only after detected estrus. Although conception rates in both experiments resulting from AI made after detected estrus either tended to be greater or were consistently greater than those following GnRH injection and one fixed-time AI, pregnancy rates were of greater magnitude after fixed-time AI because of poor expression or detection of estrus.