The NEW 5-Day Heifer CIDR Synchrony Programs – Outstanding Results Achieved

This season we have had 23 farms use the 5-Day Heifer CIDR Synchrony program, on the back of the study we conducted last season.

17 of these heifer lines have had an aged pregnancy test so far and we hope to have the remainder done in the next week.

The results have been outstanding, and I would have scarcely believed some of the results had I not scanned them myself.

Overall, the average conception rate to the first AI has been 67%, with 85% pregnant in total after a further cycle. The best two farms achieved 79% and 82% pregnant to first insemination and the lowest being 55%.

There were some slight differences in protocol between different farms heifer groups –some used heat detection over two days and some chose a blanket AI approach. We will breakdown and analyse differences once we have a full data set.

The practice has also conducted a funded study in 100 heifers, which looked to measure the range and average time to ovulation after CIDR removal in heifers using the 5-Day CIDR protocol. This involved scanning heifer ovaries up to 10 times to detect the time of ovulation (animal ethics approval gained). Going forward we hope to be able further refine optimal insemination timing when using different semen technologies – i.e. fresh versus, frozen, versus sexed. These have differences in maturation and survival time in the female reproductive tract.