Eurasian Journal of Veterinary Sciences ()
Determination of milk and plasma progesterone concentrations for early diagnosing pregnancy in cows
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the pregnancy diagnosis rates by blood and milk serum progesterone assays at the first and second estrous periods after the natural servings in cows and heifers. Fourty Swedish red cows and 10 heifers, between 2- 11 years old, were used as materials. Blood and milk samples w ere collecteld from cows in addi tion to blood samples taken from heifers on the days of 21, 38 and 45 days after serving. Blood and milk samples were centrifugated for 20 minutes at the 2000 and 5000 rpm respectively and were kept in at- 20 until the determination of progesterone by radioimmunoassay method. For the progesterone assays, «125 I Direct progesterone kits, IMM 1024, Immuchem Comp.» and «gamma counter, mini assay type, 6 - 20» were used. The figures higher than 2.30 ng/ml for plasma and 1.94 ng/ml for milık serum both the cows and heifers were evaluated as pregnant. Radioimmunoassay results were controlled by rectal examination on the 60 th day after the servings. At the end of the study the correct diagnosis rates were 84.45 % and 100.00 % for pregnant and non pregnant animals. The progesterone values for the blood samples ta'ken at the 21 st, 38 th and 45 th days were not different statistically. A correlatlon at 5% level was found between the blood and milk samples in cows and heifers. As a conclusion, the high rate of correct pregnancy diagnosis can be obtained satisfactorily in cows and heifers by the assays of the blood and milk samples collected at the 21 st day of serving.