Original Scientific Article
Short Synch - a reproductive management tool to increase the reproductive performance in dairy cows
Emilija Murdzeva ,
Martin Nikolovski ,
Stevan Tokin ,
Ljupco Mickov ,
Ksenija Ilievska ,
Zoran Dimitrovski ,
Igor Esmerov ,
Toni Dovenski ,
Branko Atanasov *

Mac Vet Rev 2025; 48 (1): i - vii

10.2478/macvetrev-2025-0013

Received: 13 November 2024

Received in revised form: 17 December 2024

Accepted: 17 January 2025

Available Online First: 28 January 2025

Published on: 15 March 2025

Correspondence: Branko Atanasov, batanasov@fvm.ukim.edu.mk
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Abstract

Poor estrus detection is the greatest limiting factor for reproductive performance in dairy cows. The study aimed to compare the reproductive performance by assessing the fertility rate (FR) between cows inseminated after detected estrus and those inseminated after synchronized ovulation with the Short Synch protocol. A total of 138 primi- and multiparous dairy cows from 5 dairy farms in North Macedonia were included in the study. At day 65±3 postpartum, an ovarian ultrasound examination was performed for presence of corpus luteum (CL), and body condition scoring (BCS) was made (scale from 1-emaciated to 5-obese). Cows with a CL (n=92) were submitted to two synchronization protocols and grouped accordingly: SPG (n=46) synchronized with a single PGF2α injection, and SSG (n=46) synchronized with a Short Sync protocol (PGF2α–24h–PGF2α–32h–GnRH–16h–TAI). Cows were followed up to the second insemination. Pregnancy diagnosis was done at d30 and d60 after each insemination. Eleven cows (n=11) from the SPG didn’t show estrus signs and were excluded from further analysis. Overall, a higher FR (p=0.0008) was observed in the SSG (71.74%, 33/46) compared to the SPG (34.29%, 12/35). Cows in the SSG with BCS>2.75 (76.19%, 16/21) had a higher FR (p=0.0016) than cows in the SPG with BCS>2.75. No differences were observed (p=0.1242) between both groups that had BCS≤2.75 (68.00%, 17/25; 43.75%, 7/16, respectively). Multiparous cows in the SSG had a higher FR (p=0.0021, 71.43%, 25/35) than their counterparts from the SPG (30.43%, 7/23). No significant differences were observed among the primiparous cows. The results indicate that Short Synch protocol might increase the fertility rate in dairy farms.

Keywords: BCS, cows, fertility rate, Short Synch

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Copyright

© 2025 Murdzeva E. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declared that they have no potential lict of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Citation Information

Macedonian Veterinary Review. Volume 48, Issue 1, Pages i-vii, e-ISSN 1857-7415, p-ISSN 1409-7621, DOI: 10.2478/macvetrev-2025-0013

The all content of the Macedonian Veterinary Review, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.