Becky

Ortiz

The Estrous Cycle of a Cow

Introduction
After puberty, a female enters a period of reproductive cyclicity that will continue for a majority
of her life. In the cow, this continuous cycle is referred to as the estrous cycle, like in many
other large animals. In cattle, each estrous cycle lasts 21 days. During one estrous cycle, there
are hormonal and physiologic changes occurring that will encourage sexual receptivity and
ovulation to maximize a pregnancy. The estrous cycle is consists of two phases; the follicular
and luteal phase, which are divided into four stages; proestrus, estrus, metestrus, and diestrus.
Understanding the phases and stages of the estrous cycle will be key to deciding when to mate
to maximize chances of a pregnancy.

Follicular Phase
In the first phase of the estrous cycle, the follicular phase, the primary reproductive hormone in
this phase is estrogen. Estrogen is responsible for inducing behavioral alterations and
physiological changes of the reproductive tract. These changes are essential for preparing the
female for mating. Behavioral changes include increased locomotion, vocalization, and
elevation of the tail in the cow. These behaviors display to the bulls that the female is sexually
proceptive, or will accept the male. Important physiologic changes include increased blood flow
and mucosal secretions in the reproductive tract. These alterations will provide lubrication for
mating and protect the uterus from bacteria. Follicles growing on the ovary are the dominant
structure of this phase since they secrete estrogen. Within each follicle is an oocyte, or egg.
While there are multiple follicles present, only one of these follicles will ovulate, or release its
egg to provide an opportunity for sperm to fertilize the egg. The ovulated follicle is the
dominant follicle present and is called the antral follicle. The follicular phase begins after the
corpus luteum, the dominant structure of the luteal phase, regresses and ends after ovulation
of the antral follicle. The follicular phase only encompasses about 20% of the estrous cycle and
consists of the proestrus and estrus stages.

Proestrus
Proestrus begins once progesterone declines in response to regression of the corpus
luteum of the luteal phase. It then ends once estrus begins. Lasting only 2-5 days, the
female is not receptive of the male during this stage. Proestrus is characterized by the
hormonal transition of progesterone to estrogen. With the decline in progesterone, the
gonadotropins follicular stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) will be
secreted. FSH is responsible for stimulating follicle growth while LH is responsible for
stimulating ovulation. Both are released in surges in response to levels of estrogen
secreted from the growing follicles. Since the follicles are gradually growing, there is a
rise in estrogen, which in return stimulates the release of FSH and LH. This marks the
end of proestrus as it moves into an estrogen dominant stage.

Becky Ortiz

Estrus
Estrus is the period of sexual receptivity and is also referred to as heat. It lasts about 6
to 24 hours and is dominated by estrogen. During this stage, the female will show signs
of receptivity in response to high estrogen levels so mating can occur. As mentioned
previously, she will be more vocal and restless. The most notable behavioral sign is
lordosis, when the cow arches her back in preparation for mating. In addition, the
lubrication from the mucosal secretion will aid in mating. Meanwhile, the high levels of
estrogen promote FSH stimulation and development of the antral follicle. It also
increases the pulsatile release of LH. Once estrogen is high enough, it peaks and causes
a surge of LH. This surge will then cause ovulation of the antral follicle. Since estrus is
the most noticeable stage of the estrous cycle, ovulation is marked as day 0 of the cycle.
At this point, the physiological changes in the reproductive tract in response to high
estrogen will aid in successful fertilization of the released egg. The increased muscle
tone, blood flow, and mucosal secretions will aid the sperm in moving through the
reproductive tract while protecting the female from foreign materials like bacteria.
Ovulation also marks the end of estrus and the follicular phase and transitions into the
luteal phase.

Becky Ortiz

Luteal Phase
The luteal phase consists of the remaining 80% of the estrous cycle and consists of the
metestrus and diestrus stages. The dominant hormone of this phase is progesterone.
Progesterone is secreted by the dominant structure of this phase, the corpus luteum. The
corpus luteum is formed from the remains of the antral follicle after ovulation. Progesterone
has many physiologic effects, including promoting mammary gland development, suppressing
FSH and LH, reducing muscle tone to prevent contractions, and increases uterine secretions.
Since these effects are essential for maintaining pregnancy, the corpus luteum is a key structure
of the luteal phase. The luteal phase will end once the corpus luteum regresses and the estrous
cycle will then repeat.

Metestrus
During metestrus, the estrogen begins to decline as the ovulated antral follicle is
transforming into the corpus luteum. As the corpus luteum develops, progesterone
begins to rise. FSH and LH are still released, but progesterone suppresses their levels so
estrogen remains low and therefore no LH surge will occur. Metestrus ends when the
corpus luteum is fully developed and can produce significant quantities of progesterone.
Metestrus typically lasts 2 to 5 days.

Diestrus
Diestrus is the longest stage of the estrous cycle and is dominated by high levels of
progesterone. This stage lasts around 10-14 days. During this time, physiologic changes
in the reproductive tract occur to prepare the female for pregnancy. If the female does
not get pregnant, the corpus luteum will be destroyed and high progesterone levels will
be lost. This marks the end of diestrus and the luteal phase and the cycle will repeat.

Conclusion
Once there is a successful pregnancy, the cow will not cycle. When a female does not cycle as a
result of pregnancy and lactation, this period is known as anestrus. Progesterone is the
dominant hormone, which then prevents follicular growth and therefore ovulation. However,
anestrus can also be caused by stress and insufficient energy balance from inadequate
nutrition. Understanding the periods and stages of the estrous along with anestrus will help
determine what is going on in a cow and will determine when best to breed for a successful
pregnancy.