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novel approaches to expression and detection of oestrus in dairy cows

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<strong>oestrus</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>oestrus</strong> it is clear <strong>to</strong> see that for each cow display<strong>in</strong>g overt<br />

<strong>oestrus</strong> (st<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> mount<strong>in</strong>g behaviour; confirmed by visual<br />

observation) there was a def<strong>in</strong>ite peak <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>creased activity above basel<strong>in</strong>e.<br />

It is also clear <strong>to</strong> see that each cow had a different level <strong>of</strong> activity <strong>in</strong>crease<br />

at <strong>oestrus</strong> rang<strong>in</strong>g from 67 <strong>to</strong> 133 activity units (Table 5.8). Synchronised<br />

<strong>cows</strong> that did not display <strong>oestrus</strong> but had low progesterone concentration<br />

did not have a peak <strong>in</strong> activity.<br />

It is also worth not<strong>in</strong>g several po<strong>in</strong>ts <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>creased activity that were not<br />

associated with <strong>oestrus</strong>. A number <strong>of</strong> the small peaks were related <strong>to</strong><br />

rout<strong>in</strong>e management tasks such as foot trimm<strong>in</strong>g (Figure 5.11; small peaks<br />

noticeable for all 8 <strong>cows</strong> near<strong>in</strong>g the end <strong>of</strong> the trial) <strong>and</strong> h<strong>and</strong>l<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> <strong>cows</strong><br />

at the beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> trials when backpack tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g.<br />

Table 5.5 Number <strong>of</strong> mounts declared by the script per day from POC 2<br />

Cow<br />

48 539 320 323 611 516 292 620 Total<br />

Number<br />

Monday 1 1 2<br />

Tuesday 1 1<br />

Wednesday 1 1 2<br />

Thursday 29 89 18 36 1 173(97)*<br />

Friday 3 2 7 12<br />

Saturday 1 1 2<br />

Sunday 1 2 3<br />

NB Cow 539, 320, 323 <strong>and</strong> 611 were all <strong>in</strong> <strong>oestrus</strong> on Thursday<br />

Table 5.6 Number <strong>of</strong> mounts declared by the script per day <strong>in</strong> POC 3<br />

Cow<br />

Number<br />

1 123 313 424 623 127 38 106 Total<br />

Monday 1 1 2<br />

Tuesday 2 1 1 1 1 4 10<br />

Wednesday 1 3 2 1 4 1 3 15<br />

Thursday 24 30 14 10 2 1 81(42)*<br />

Friday 7 14 16 3 40(20)*<br />

Saturday 5 1 1 2 9<br />

Sunday 2 3 2 2 9<br />

NB Cow 1, 123, 313, 424 <strong>and</strong> 623 were all <strong>in</strong> <strong>oestrus</strong> on either Thursday or Friday<br />

or both days<br />

*Total number <strong>of</strong> mounts detected, followed by the actual number on that day <strong>in</strong><br />

brackets<br />

121

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