Comparison of ovulation, fertilization and embryonic survival in low-fertility beef cows compared to fertile females

The objective was to determine physiological causes of low fertility in beef cows. Fertility was compared between low-fertility cows (34 British cows and 64 Brahman crossbred cows; cows that did not get pregnant when mated to fertile bulls in one or two previous breeding seasons); fertile cows (16 Brahman crossbreds; cows having a calf in several of the preceding breeding seasons), and virgin heifers (45 Brahman crossbreds, 2 yr of age). Females were mated to fertile bulls and killed 3 or 34 d after breeding to obtain reproductive tracts. There were no significant differences among groups in rates of ovulation or fertilization. Overall, 14% of females failed to ovulate and 24% that ovulated failed to undergo fertilization. The proportion of cows that were not detected in estrus before Day 34 of pregnancy was lower (P < 0.01) for low-fertility British cows (5 of 16 cows, 31%) than for other groups, including low-fertility Brahman crossbred cows (23/32, 72%), fertile cows (8/9, 89%), and heifers (21/24, 88%). All cows that did not return to estrus by Day 34 had an identifiable conceptus. The proportion of conceptuses recovered at Day 34 that were classified as normal (weight and length) was lower (P < 0.05) for cows with low fertility (British: 2/5, 40%; Brahman crossbred: 9/23, 39%) than for fertile cows (8/8, 100%) or heifers (18/21; 86%). Similarly, the proportion of cows in which a normal embryo was recovered (cows with normal embryos/number of cows mated) was lower (P < 0.001) for low-fertility British cows (2/16, 13%) and low-fertility Brahman crossbred cows (9/32, 28%) than for fertile cows (8/9, 89%) and heifers (18/24, 75%). In conclusion, cows that were infertile in previous breeding seasons did not experience reduced ovulation or fertilization rates, but had greater embryonic mortality. These data highlighted the importance of ovulation and fertilization failure and embryonic mortality as important determinants of pregnancy success. Moreover, increased embryonic loss after Day 34 contributed to infertility in low-fertility cows.