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Uniscan™ Measures Progesterone in Bovine Serum

Poor reproductive performance is one of the most costly and difficult problems for dairy producers. A dairy producer loses $1 to $3 per cow each day if a cow is open beyond the 90 days of post-calving. Therefore, accurate and efficient heat detection is the key to profitability on the farm. The Uniscan's progesterone test is a simple and accurate method to aid in your reproductive management program.

Digital read-out of progesterone in bovine serum by Uniscan™:

1. Identify "open cows" as early as 19 days post insemination

2. Reduce costly "Days Open"

3. Reduce calving intervals

4. Increase conception rates by making a better breeding decision

5. Provide for more profitable A.I.

6. Screen for ovarian dysfunction

7. Improve an embryo transfer practice

8. Eliminate all guess work from qualitative tests

Demonstration Photos and Procedures

Why Test For Progesterone?

Progesterone, a natural hormone circulating in the cow's blood, is a useful indicator of the stages of a cow's reproductive cycle. The progesterone level is very low during estrus. (See Fig.1, and 2 below.) If a cow does not conceive, the progesterone level increases, reaches a peak level, and then declines to near zero as the cow approaches return to estrus (the solid line in Fig. 1). If a cow is bred and conceives, the progesterone level increases and remains high during pregnancy (the dotted line in Fig. 2).

Testing progesterone about 19-24 days after breeding can identify open cows by a low progesterone level (below the green line in Figs). The open cows can then be rebred. If progesterone levels are high (above the blue line in Figs), the cow is pregnant. Identifying open cows earlier will reduce the days open and lower costs.