Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) Dosage Based on Body Weight Enhances Ovulatory Responses and Subsequent Embryo Production in Goats

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of porcine follicle stimulating hormone (pFSH) dosage based on body weight (BW) on ovarian responses of crossbred does. Thirty donor does were divided into 3 groups getting pFSH dosages of 3, 5, and 8 mg pFSH per kg BW, respectively, and were named as pFSH-3, pFSH-5 and pFSH-8, respectively. Estrus was synchronized by inserting a controlled internal drug release (CIDR) device and a single injection of prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α). The pFSH treatments were administered twice a day through 6 decreasing dosages (25, 25, 15, 15, 10, and 10% of total pFSH amount; decreasing daily). Ovarian responses were evaluated on Day 7 after CIDR removal. After CIDR removal, estrus was observed 3 times in a day and pFSH treatments were initiated at 2 days before the CIDR removal. All does in pFSH-5 and pFSH-8 showed estrus signs while half of the does in pFSH-3 showed estrus signs. No differences (p>0.05) were observed on the corpus luteum and total ovarian stimulation among the treatment groups, while total and transferable embryos were higher (p<0.05) in pFSH-5 (7.00 and 6.71) than pFSH-3 (3.00 and 2.80) and pFSH-8 (2.00 and 1.50), respectively. In conclusion, 5 mg pFSH per kg BW dosage gave a higher number of embryos than 3 and 8 mg pFSH per kg BW dosages. The results indicated that the dosage of pFSH based on BW is an important consideration for superovulation in goats.