Pregnancy maintenance in a grazing dairy cattle system in the Ecuadorian highlands
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30972/vet.3719611Keywords:
Ecuador, pérdidas de gestación, vacas lecherasAbstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate pregnancy maintenance in dairy cows from the fetal to the perinatal stage in a grazing dairy system in the Ecuadorian Highlands. Reproductive records managed with TP livestock software from 2012 to 2023 were analyzed. Biotype, parity, number of services, season, and year were considered risk factors associated with pregnancy loss (PL). Pregnancy was classified into four categories, and pregnancy loss incidence and rate, pregnancy survival, and risk of loss were evaluated. The overall pregnancy survival rate was 81.79%, whereas the overall pregnancy loss rate was 18.21%. The highest incidence of PL occurred during the early fetal period (43 – 120 days) (6.96%; p<0.05). Pregnancy loss was higher during the rainy season (October–May) than during the dry season (June–September) (20.14% vs. 14.86%; p<0.05). The highest annual pregnancy loss was recorded in 2018 (30.21%; p<0.05), and cows requiring ≥3 services showed the greatest pregnancy loss (77.33%; p<0.05). These findings provides valuable information to strengthen pregnancy loss surveillance in Ecuador through the systematic use of reproductive records and support the establishment of a standardized methodology for pregnancy monitoring.
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