The significant decrease in fertility observed in dairy cattle during the last few decades and increasing requirements by the farmers have made a regular control of reproduction indispensable to urgently identify and solve potential problems affecting reproductive efficiency. Traditionally, the main diagnostic methods used for reproductive control in cattle included rectal palpation, inspection of vaginal discharge and vaginoscopy. Since the 1990 s, the use of ultrasound (US) has become a common diagnostic method as a result of the new advances made in the development of US scans: smaller size, high level of autonomy, high image quality and accessible prices. Ultrasound improves accuracy in the diagnoses of stages of the oestrous cycle, ovarian and uterine pathologies, and pregnancy diagnosis. In addition, it facilitates the diagnosis of alterations during pregnancy (embryo mortality, foetal malformations, etc.) and helps determining foetal sex from day 55 of pregnancy.

-This study was aimed at determining if a GnRH analogue, buserelin, could be used for ovulation induction in rabbit does submitted to artificial insemination (AI) by intravaginal administration, by adding the hormone to the seminal dose. In a first experiment, 39 secondiparous experimental does (Hyplus strain PS19, Grimaud Frères, France, of about 30 weeks of age) were divided into 3 groups of 13 does each, which at the moment of AI received the following treatments, respectively: (1) control: an intramuscular injection of buserelin (0.8 µg/doe), (2) 8 µg/doe of buserelin added to the insemination dose, and (3) 16 µg/doe of buserelin added to the insemination dose. The experiment was done using 3 consecutive cycles at 42 day-intervals (n = 39). Four does from each of the 3 groups had blood taken at the fourth cycle for LH determination at 0, 60, 90, 120 and 150 min relative to AI. Kindling rates were 82% (28/34), 56% (29/36) and 85% (33/39), respectively for treatments 1, 2 and 3. In the does of groups 2 and 3, LH peaks were detected 60 min after AI, whereas in the does from group 1, the LH peak was detected 90 min after AI. Prolificacy was not different for the 3 treatments (average litter sizes ranged from 10.4 to 10.8). In a second experiment, 3 buserelin concentrations (8, 12 and 16 µg/doe) were used intravaginally and compared with the control treatment (0.8 µg/doe, via intramuscular). This experiment was done using 100 nulliparous rabbit does (Hyplus strain PS19, Grimaud Frères, France, of about 19 weeks of age) (4 groups of 25 does each) located on a commercial farm, to test if the previous results would be confirmed under field conditions. Kindling rates were no different (P < 0.05) for the 4 treatment groups [91.7% (22/24), 79.2% (19/24), 87.0% (20/23) and 87.5% (21/24) respectively for the control, 8, 12 and 16 µg of intravaginal buserelin], however, prolificacy was higher when using the maximal dose of intravaginal buserelin (11.7 vs. 9.4 for the control group). It was concluded that buserelin can be used for ovulation induction in rabbit does when included in the seminal dose, with similar AI results as those obtained when the hormone is administered intramuscularly.

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This study was aimed to evaluate the reproductive performance of rabbit does artificially inseminated (AI) with a GnRH analogue [des-Gly10, D-Ala6]-LHRH. ethylamide to induce ovulation by intravaginal administration, delivered in the seminal dose. In a preliminary experiment, 39 does were divided into three groups (n = 13) that, at the time of AI, received the following ovulation induction treatments: (i) control group: 20 microg of gonadorelin administered intramuscularly; (ii) 25 microg of the GnRH analogue added to the seminal dose; (iii) 30 microg of the GnRH analogue added to the seminal dose. Fertility did not differ between the three groups (control: 80.6%, group 2: 82.8%, group 3: 73.3%). In a second experiment, a large-scale field trial was conducted to test the use of 25 microg of the GnRH analogue [des-Gly10, D-Ala6]-LHRH ethylamide delivered in the seminal dose (n = 270) against 20 microg of gonadorelin administered intramuscularly. Fertility was higher (p < 0.05) when ovulation was induced by intravaginal administration of the GnRH agonist (91.1% vs 85.6%). Prolificacy or mortality at birth was never affected by the ovulation induction treatments. In a third experiment, two groups of does [control group (n = 39): ovulation was induced using 20 microg of gonadorelin administered intramuscularly; treatment group (n = 40): ovulation was induced using 25 microg of [(des-Gly10, D-Ala6)-LHRH ethylamide added to the seminal dose] were inseminated at 42-day intervals for five successive AI cycles, to test the response to the GnRH agonist after repeated intravaginal administration to the same animals. Fertility and prolificacy were not influenced by the ovulation induction treatment neither there was an interaction between treatment and parity. The last experiment was aimed to determine whether it could be possible to add the GnRH agonist to the semen in the AI Center, just after semen collection and dilution, or it would have to be added in the farm, immediately before AI. Kindling rates did not significantly differ when ovulation was induced by intramuscular injection of gonadorelin (84.5%) or when the GnRH agonist was added to the seminal dose just at the moment (93.8 %) or 24 h before AI (90.4 %), but it was significantly lower when the hormone was added to the semen 32 h before AI (76.3 %). Prolificacy, however, was not influenced by the ovulation induction treatment.

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