Incidence of repeat breeding syndrome in holstein friesian cattle

Repeat breeding syndrome could be described as a cow's failure to conceive after three or more than three inseminations in the absence of any clinically relevant abnormality. In order to determine the incidence of repeat breeding, a retrospective study which included data from 682 Holstein Friesian cows within two dairy herds across Belgium were collected during two consecutive years. Thus, the repeat breeding overall incidence in dairy cattle was 18.1% (124 cows). The highest incidence of repeat breeding syndrome was recorded during spring season (5.6%, n=38) the lowest incidence being during winter season (2.9%, n=20). Regarding postpartum disorders, our study revealed that in cows with endometritis, metritis, milk fever and retained fetal membranes, the incidence of repeat breeding was higher than in cows that became pregnant within first three artificial inseminations (were considered to have normal fertility). According to parity number, the highest incidence of repeat breeding syndrome was recorded during 1st (3.9% n = 27) and 5th (4.1%, n = 28) parities, the lowest incidence being recorded during 6th (1.9%, n = 13) and 7th (0.29%, n = 2). Also, in cows with repeat breeding, the reproductive indices were negatively modified, triggering thus a poor reproductive performance. In conclusion, our results show that repeat breeding syndrome involves a various number of factors, such as postpartum disorders as well as extrinsic factors.