Effects of bioclimatic factors on performance of Brangus and Angus females undergoing Fixed Time Artificial Insemination (TAI)

• Autor(a) principal: Kroef Tarouco, Adriana
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Fátima Tazzo, Ivonete, Urdapilleta Tarouco, Jaime, Feijó, Fernanda, da Silveira, Carolina, Bremm, Carolina, Glaucia Azevedo do Amaral, Glaucia, Ultramari Matos , Eduardo
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Pesquisa Agropecuária Gaúcha (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://revistapag.agricultura.rs.gov.br/ojs/index.php/revistapag/article/view/50
• topic: Climate adaptation; Animal welfare; Beef cattle; Conception; Adaptação climática; Bem-estar animal; Bovinocultura de corte; Concepção

Meat production depends on the reproductive efficiency of the breeding herd, and high conception and weaning rates of the females, and the genetic quality of the products generated. In recent years, there has been an increase in the use of the Fixed Time Artificial Insemination (TAI) technique, such as reproduction biotechnology when applying efficiency increase, however, as average conception rates not exceeded by 50%. Several factors may influence these results: body condition, animal category, TAI protocol, racial type, coat and environmental conditions. In this sense, the objective of this study was to verify the effect of climatic and zootechnical variables on conception rates of females submitted to the TAI at the Iwar Beckmam Research Center / Hulha Negra, RS and at the UFRGS Agronomic Experimental Station in Eldorado do Sul, RS, Brazil, from 2015 to 2017. 531 females were evaluated, eight TAI protocols were applied and the following variations were included: body condition score; live weight; coat; animal category and racial type. Meteorologicals data were collected from meteorological stations installed at the experimental sites. Aiming to determine the thermal comfort ranges of the animals, the indexes: temperature and humidity index-ITH and thermal comfort index-ITU were used. The data obtained were analyzed using the JMP statistical program (v.13). Among the variables, this study was found as an effect of the applied protocol and the females’ body condition on the conceptions rates.