Medycyna Wet. 65 (11), 762-764, 2009
Nowak T. A., Jaśœkowski J. M., Olechnowicz J., Bukowska D.
Effect of cows' body condition during periparturient period and early lactation on post parturient development of ovarian follicles and size of corpus luteum
The aim of the study was to establish the effect of body condition in the period before parturition on the dynamics of follicular waves, the appearance of the first dominant follicle and the corpus luteum and on the number of ovarian follicles during the first 36 days after calving. In the study the analysis was conducted on 23 cows, which were divided into three groups depending on their body condition before calving. Groups I, II and III included cows with body condition scores £ 3.0, 3.01-3.5 and > 3.5 points, respectively. In all cows, starting from days 14-16 post partum up to days 34-38 post partum thorough ultrasound examinations (USF) of ovarian surface were performed at 2-3-day intervals. No significant effect of BCS before calving was found on the cumulative number of ovarian follicles detected in the first 36-38 days after calving, although in cows from group III this number was slightly higher than in cows from group I. No effect of the body condition of cows before calving on the date and frequency of FDF and FCL was found in this study. However, the dominant follicle and the corpus luteum in cows from group I were detected later than in cows with body condition scores corresponding to groups II and III.
Keywords: cows, body condition score, post partum period development of follicles, corpus luteum