The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of maturation for 16 v. 24 h on the kinetics of development and the sex ratio of bovine embryos. Oocytes were inseminated at 16 or 24 h after the beginning of maturation using frozen–thawed bull semen. Two-cell embryos at 24, 28, 32, 36, 40, 44 and 48 h post-insemination (hpi) and blastocysts at Days 6, 7 and 8 from both groups were snap-frozen individually and stored at –80°C until determination of embryo sex. Insemination at 16 h resulted in a lower cleavage rate at 48 hpi than insemination at 24 h (70.6% v. 77.1%, respectively, P < 0.05). In terms of the evolution of cleavage divisions, insemination at 24 h resulted in a typical pattern of cleavage such that by 32 hpi, ~58% of presumptive zygotes had cleaved. In contrast, first cleavage following insemination at 16 h was significantly slower such that by 32 hpi, ~35% of presumptive zygotes had cleaved. Duration of IVM did not affect blastocyst yield (~37%). The overall sex ratio of 2-cell embryos at 48 hpi differed from 1 : 1 in favour of males in both groups (24 h: 55.9 v. 44.1%; 16 h: 59.1 v. 40.9%, P < 0.05). Similarly, the overall sex ratio of blastocysts differed from 1 : 1 in both groups (24 h: 59.7 v. 40.3%; 16 h: 58.5 v. 41.5%, P < 0.05). In conclusion, timing of gamete interaction and maturity of the oocyte at the time of the interaction can affect the kinetics of the early cleavage divisions but has no effect on the sex ratio of the embryos produce.