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novel approaches to expression and detection of oestrus in dairy cows

novel approaches to expression and detection of oestrus in dairy cows

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caused by the general environment trigger<strong>in</strong>g devices, also <strong>in</strong>curr<strong>in</strong>g error<br />

through loss <strong>of</strong> the transmitter from the tail head (At-Taras <strong>and</strong> Spahr,<br />

2001), which has been reported by many groups (Firk et al., 2002).<br />

1.5.3.3 Milk Progesterone Biosensors<br />

Milk progesterone concentration drops below 3ng/ml <strong>of</strong> milk at <strong>oestrus</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />

can be used as a <strong>detection</strong> aid for p<strong>in</strong> po<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g the drop <strong>in</strong> progesterone,<br />

allow<strong>in</strong>g oestradiol <strong>to</strong> <strong>in</strong>crease (Friggens <strong>and</strong> Chagunda, 2005). Moni<strong>to</strong>r<strong>in</strong>g<br />

progesterone concentration is a useful <strong>to</strong>ol for moni<strong>to</strong>r<strong>in</strong>g the reproductive<br />

status <strong>of</strong> the cow throughout the oestrous cycle (discussed <strong>in</strong> Section<br />

1.5.2.1) <strong>and</strong> can be au<strong>to</strong>mated us<strong>in</strong>g an <strong>in</strong>-l<strong>in</strong>e approach moni<strong>to</strong>r<strong>in</strong>g<br />

hormone concentration at each milk<strong>in</strong>g by biosensors (Delwiche et al.,<br />

2001a). The specificity <strong>of</strong> the sensors can detect subtle changes <strong>in</strong><br />

concentration <strong>and</strong> provide details on ovarian function, metabolic status <strong>and</strong><br />

disease such as mastitis. Numerical data can then be downloaded <strong>and</strong><br />

compared onl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>and</strong> used <strong>to</strong> determ<strong>in</strong>e the health <strong>and</strong> fertility <strong>of</strong> <strong>cows</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />

most importantly the tim<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> ovulation (Mottram et al., 2002). These<br />

biosensors successfully detected all 19 ovula<strong>to</strong>ry events but the variation <strong>in</strong><br />

progesterone concentration resulted <strong>in</strong> a 26% error rate due <strong>to</strong> variability<br />

between <strong>cows</strong> (Delwiche et al., 2001a). This group made improvements <strong>to</strong><br />

the sensitivity <strong>of</strong> the immunoassay <strong>and</strong> developed usable data available <strong>in</strong><br />

real-time with<strong>in</strong> 10 m<strong>in</strong>utes <strong>of</strong> sampl<strong>in</strong>g (Delwiche et al., 2001b) yet this<br />

method <strong>of</strong> <strong>detection</strong> is not fully validated <strong>and</strong> is not available commercially.<br />

HerdNaviga<strong>to</strong>r, on the other h<strong>and</strong>, is a commercial method <strong>of</strong> onl<strong>in</strong>e<br />

progesterone moni<strong>to</strong>r<strong>in</strong>g which was developed with elements <strong>to</strong> detect<br />

health, fertility <strong>and</strong> metabolic status (Lovendahl <strong>and</strong> Friggens, 2008). The<br />

model as described by Friggens <strong>and</strong> Chagunda (2005) has reported 99.2%<br />

<strong>in</strong> the model <strong>of</strong> confirmed <strong>oestrus</strong> <strong>and</strong> 93.7% us<strong>in</strong>g ratified <strong>oestrus</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />

progesterone curves (Friggens et al., 2008). Moni<strong>to</strong>r<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> progesterone<br />

concentration does have advantages over other methods <strong>of</strong> <strong>detection</strong><br />

because silent ovulations can be detected; 55.2% <strong>of</strong> first ovulations post<br />

partum were silent <strong>and</strong> detected by milk progesterone concentration but<br />

not activity (Ranas<strong>in</strong>ghe et al., 2010). However the accuracy <strong>of</strong> this<br />

technique decl<strong>in</strong>es as tim<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> decrease <strong>in</strong> progesterone concentration has<br />

a weak relationship with tim<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> ovulation (Lovendahl <strong>and</strong> Friggens,<br />

2008).<br />

45

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