Bovine embryo transfer pregnancies. II. Lengths of gestation.

Lengths of gestation were determined from 1,484 pregnancies resulting from embryo transfer procedures. Least-square means of lengths of gestation by breed of embryos (P less than .005) were: Holstein, 278.7; Angus, 281.0; Hereford, 285.7; Simmental, 287.6 and Limousin, 289.7 d. Recipient breed had a small effect on length of gestation (P less than .005). The length of gestation for recipients less than 4 yr old was 2.7 d shorter (P less than .005) than for older recipients. As asynchrony of recipient and donor estrus changed by 1 d, length of gestation changed linearly by .78 d (P less than .005). Male calves were carried 1.4 d longer than females (P less than .005). Embryo age at time of transfer, embryo quality, length of embryo storage between collection and transfer, and donor age did not affect length of gestation significantly. Lengths of gestation of 185 embryo transfer pregnancies were 1.5 d longer (P greater than .1) than those of 305 matched control pregnancies from the same farms. We conclude that length of gestation of embryo transfer calves and length of gestation of non-embryo transfer calves are influenced by similar factors.