Evaluation of pregnancy associated glycoproteins assays for on farm determination of pregnancy status in beef cattle.

Transrectal ultrasonography is known as the gold standard for pregnancy detection, but requires costly equipment and technical skills; therefore, access to an inexpensive and more user-friendly method with similar accuracy could benefit cattle producers. Detection of pregnancy-associated glycoproteins can accurately determine pregnancy in ruminants; however, usually requires specialized equipment for the assay. Thus, the objectives of these studies were to 1) validate the IDEXX Alertys OnFarm Pregnancy Test (lateral flow) and compare the accuracy of all three commercial PAG assays to transrectal ultrasonography and 2) to determine the postpartum interval necessary for clearance of pregnancy-associated glycoproteins from the previous pregnancy to avoid false positives.

Effect of progesterone supplementation in a resynchronization protocol on follicular dynamics and pregnancy success.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the necessity of a controlled internal drug releasing device (CIDR) in a fixed-time AI resynchronization protocol as well as to compare a commercially available blood pregnancy test with transrectal ultrasonography for Day 28 pregnancy detection. Over a two-year period, beef cows and heifers from twelve herds were inseminated using the 7-day CO-Synch + CIDR protocol. On Day 21 following the first insemination, the protocol was repeated, with animals receiving either a CIDR or no CIDR.

Comparison of two bovine serum pregnancy tests in detection of artificial insemination pregnancies and pregnancy loss in beef cattle.

Blood tests for early detection of pregnancy in cattle based on pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAGs) are commercially available. The objective of these studies were to compare the accuracy of blood tests to transrectal ultrasonography in detecting AI pregnancies, and to compare the accuracy of blood tests in predicting pregnancy loss. Beef cattle from 6 herds were synchronized using a recommended CIDR based protocol (Study 1: n = 460; Study 2: n = 472).