One major cause of low fertility of cows in the summer is progesterone deficiency. We found that insertion of a controlled intravaginal drug-releasing (CIDR) device containing progesterone after artificial insemination (AI) increases pregnancy per AI (P/AI) in cows with uterine disease and low body condition score after calving. Here, we treated only these two subgroups, during the summer and autumn. Control (n = 191 AI) and treatment (n = 230 AI) cows were inseminated at estrus and the treated group received a CIDR device on day 5 post-AI, for 14 days. Overall analysis of data during the summer and autumn indicated no significant differences between treatment and control groups. Analysis of the summer data only indicated a significant effect of treatment: P/AI was higher in CIDR-treated vs. control groups (34.2% vs. 19.3%; p < .038). Results indicated a 15% increase in P/AI during the summer for CIDR-treated cows in subgroups that had responded positively to the progesterone treatment.
Keywords: cows; fertility; progesterone; summer.
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