(P=0.329). Post hoc pair wise comparisons revealed that severely
lame cows had lower maximum progesterone concentrations
compared to nonlame cows prior to the first observed estrus after
calving (Pb0.042; Table 3).
Progesterone concentrations over the full 18 days prior to
estrus were lower for both groups of lame cows but did not differ
significantly between nonlame (n=18), moderately lame (n=9)
and severely lame (n=9) cows (P=0.497; Fig. 1b). Variation in
progesterone profiles was not associated with prior fertility
treatment (P=0.358) but individual cow variation did account for
a large proportion of the variation (P=0.000; r2=31.7%). There
was no association between lameness and the intervals from first
detected basal progesterone (prior to estrus) to maximumestradiol
concentration, or from basal progesterone to estrus (P=0.669,