TEMPORARY RESTRICTED SUCKLING (ITA): REPRODUCTIVE STRATEGY TO REDUCE CALVING INTERVAL IN ZEBU CATTLE

Abstract

In beef herds, reproductive efficiency is critical to farm profitability. The ITA reproductive protocol aims to induce early postpartum ovulation by temporarily restricting calf suckling, thereby improving herd reproductive efficiency. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of the ITA protocol on calving interval (IEP) and calf weaning weight (PD210) in Brahman cattle.  A total of 503 IEP records and 486 PD210 records were analyzed. Of the IEP records, 114 were from cows that remained with their calves from calving to weaning (permanent suckling; PA); while 389 (for IEP) and 372 (for PD210) records belonged to cows subjected to the ITA reproductive protocol.  Analysis of variance using the GLM procedure was performed, and means were compared using Tukey’s test in R software. The model considered the effect of suckling type and cow age at calving as linear and quadratic covariates. Additionally, for PD210, the effects of calf sex, and season and year of birth were considered. The results indicated that the ITA protocol reduced the IEP by an average of 17 days, without affecting the PD210 of the calves. ITA proved to be an effective reproductive strategy to shorten the IEP without impacting weaning weight. The protocol’s effectiveness was influenced by cow age at calving, being most effective in cows with fewer than nine calvings.