Two reproductive management programmes were implemented on a dairy farm with 780 cows in milk to compare their effects on reproductive efficiency and
endometritis. The herd was divided into two groups. All cows in Group 1 received 0.15 mg of D-
cloprostenol (Preloban, Hoechst Roussel Vet, Wiesbaden) intramuscularly (i.m.) at 14-day intervals starting at 22-28 days postpartum (pp) until breeding. Group 2 was examined by rectal palpation twice during the third and fifth weeks pp, respectively. Cows that showed signs of
endometritis were treated with a uterine infusion of 720 mg polycondensated m-cresolsulphuric
acid-formaldehyd (14:1) in 150 ml of water (
Lotagen, 2%, Essex Tierarznei, München). For both groups, the voluntary waiting period was set at 50 days pp. Cows were bred on observed oestrus. Cows not bred until day 71 pp were examined by rectal palpation and treated according to a predefined protocol. Group 1 had a higher service rate, and reduced days to first service (P < 0.05) and days open (7.6 days, P = 0.08). First service conception rate and total conception rate were lower than in Group 2 (P < 0.05) and first service conception rate was considerably lower than second service conception rate in Group 1 (P < 0.01). Days open were 4.5 days higher and conception rates were lower in cows with
endometritis than in cows without
endometritis at post-partum examination (P > 0.05). Results indicate that reproductive management programmes based on strategic use of
prostaglandin F2 alpha present an alternative to conventional reproductive management programmes based on rectal palpation and uterine infusions in large dairy herds.