Reproductive performance of four, five and six-year old crossbred ewes representing six combinations ofFinnsheep (F), Dorset (D), Rambouillet (R), and White Face Western (WFW) breeding were evaluated when lambing in the winter (February-March, 1977) and in the fall (October-November, 1977). The six breed combinations represented were 3fsF, 5fsWFW; %F, 1f2D, %R; %F, %D, 1f2R; %F, %R; 1f2D, 1f2R;...

The objective of the study was twofold: (i) to quantify the differences in daily milk yield (DMY) and total milk yield (TMY) between lame and non-lame dairy ewes and (ii) to determine the shape of lactation curves around the lameness incident. The overall study was a prospective study of lameness for the surveyed sheep population, with a nested study including the selection of matching controls...

Activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis by psychosocial stress is attenuated during lactation. We tested the hypothesis that lactating ewes will have attenuated HPA axis responses to isolation and restraint but will have greater responses to predator stress in the form of barking dogs. We imposed two 4 h stressors: psychosocial stress (isolation and restraint of ewes) and pre...

Ile-de-France ewes had high plasma progesterone concentrations during early summer-late winter. Gentile-di-Puglia ewes had high progesterone values during the winter-spring-summer period but during autumn progesterone values were very low and oestrous behaviour was not displayed. The comparison with Ile-de-France ewes indicates that a phase shift occurs in the annual ovarian activity in ewes of...

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of selenium (Se) supplementation of mature ewes in the period from day -14 to day 90 post mating on Se status, productivity and viability of ewes and their offspring. Multiparous crossbred ewes (n = 82) were randomly assigned to receive a standard dried grass-based diet (control) or dried grass diet supplemented with 1 g of selenised yeas...

Shearing ewes in mid pregnancy can provide farmers with management and financial advantages. Six experiments conducted at Massey University have collectively shown that shearing ewes at this time can increase lamb birthweight by up to 1.0 kg. When comparisons were made across studies, there was a strong negative relationship between size of the response and the birthweight of control lambs (tho...

Merino sheep in Australia experience periods of variable feed supply. Merino sheep can be bred to be more resilient to this variation by losing less BW when grazing poor quality pasture and gaining more BW when grazing good quality pasture. Therefore, selection on BW change might be economically attractive but correlations with other traits in the breeding objective need to be known. The geneti...

An experiment was designed to evaluate the effects of five sire breeds (Dorset, Finnsheep, Romanov, Texel, and Montadale), two dam breeds (Composite III [CIII] and northwestern whiteface [WF]), and three shearing seasons (December, February, and April, corresponding to August, October, and December breeding seasons) and their interactions on wool and other characteristics of F1 ewes. Fleeces we...

T HE development of the Targhee breed of sheep began in i9=6 when the Bureau of Animal Industry at the U. S. Sheep Experiment Station, Dubois, Idaho mated select Rambouillet rams with select ewes of Corriedale XLincoln-Rambouillet and Lincoln XRambouillet combinations. Descendants of these crosses have been interbred and carefully selected to produce Targhee sheep. Spencer and Stoehr (x94L) hav...

Obesity at conception and excess gestational weight gain pose significant risks for adverse health consequences in human offspring. This study evaluated the effects of reducing dietary intake of obese/overfed ewes beginning in early gestation on fetal development. Sixty days prior to conception, ewes were assigned to a control diet [CON: 100% of National Research Council (NRC) recommendations],...