Abstract
Abstract The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of an injectable multi-mineral complex supplementation on beef cows overall mineral status and fertility. This study involved 9 different locations in the state of Virginia and a total of 1,128 Angus crossbred multiparous cows. All cows had ad libitum access to forage and water, and received mineral supplementation in form of mineral blocks. All cows were enrolled in a 7-d CO-Synch + CIDR fixed-time AI (FTAI) protocol, followed by natural service for an approximately 70-d breeding season. At the initiation of the FTAI protocol (d 0) cows were stratified by days post-partum (82 ± 18 d) and randomly assigned to one of two treatments: 1) One dose of an injectable trace mineral containing zinc (60mg/ml), copper (15mg/ml), selenium (5mg/ml) and manganese (10mg/ml) on d 0 (n = 560; 1 ml/90 kg BW of Multimin® 90, Multimin USA, Ft. Collins, CO); or 2) a negative control with no trace mineral injection (n = 568). BCS was recorded at d 0, 61 and 121. Estrus detection was recorded at d 10 using an estrus detection patch. Pregnancy was diagnosed on days 71 and 131 by ultrasonography. Liver biopsies were collected on days 0 and 45 in a subgroup of 140 cows from both treatments and distributed among all locations. No differences between treatments were detected in days post-partum (P = 0.83), BCS (P ≥ 0.42) and estrus detection (P= 0.12), neither in mineral status of copper, manganese, selenium or zinc (P ≥ 0.28). No effect of treatment was detected (P ≥ 0.20) in AI pregnancy rate (57%) or overall pregnancy rate (93%). In conclusion, one dose of injectable trace mineral administrated 10 days before AI did not improve pregnancy rate or overall mineral status in multiparous beef cows enrolled in FTAI.
Accepted Version
Published Version
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