In sheep industry, pregnancy rate after artificial insemination (AI) declines due to the complex anatomy of the cervix in ewes, such that it might prevent effective intrauterine insemination. At estrus, cervical relaxation occurs to some degree in ewes, which is regulated by the changes in the levels of reproductive hormones. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of estradiol and intravenous...

Thirty 6-yr-old Targhee ewes were randomly allotted to one of five supplemental treatments to evaluate supplementation effects on liver and fecal Zn and Cu concentrations and serum alkaline phosphatase activity: 1) control, 2) Zn complex, 3) Zn and Cu (ZnCu) complex, 4) Zn sulfate, and 5) ZnCu sulfates. Supplements were administered daily in gelatin capsules for 56 d. Liver biopsies and serum s...

The objectives of this study were to evaluate intestinal cellularity and vascularity in mature ewes in response to dietary restriction and pregnancy status and to quantify the response of these variables to increased nutrient demand of fetal growth. In Exp. 1, 28 mature Dorset x crossbred white-faced ewes (61.6+/-1.8 kg initial BW) were fed a pelleted, forage-based diet. Treatments were arrange...

We conducted field and laboratory experiments to evaluate whether treating pregnant bighorn ewes with a combination of an experimental Pasteurella trehalosi and Mannheimia haemolytica (formerly P. haemolytica) vaccine and a commercially-available bovine P. multocida and M. haemolytica vaccine would increase lamb survival following a pneumonia epidemic. Three free-ranging bighorn herds affected ...

Comparison of the theory of Rabi oscillations with experiment [M. Wilczewski and M. Czachor, Phys. Rev. A 79, 033836 (2009)] suggests that cavity lifetime parameters obtained in measurements with many photons may be much smaller than those applicable to almost vacuum states of light. In this context, we show that the conclusion remains unchanged even if one takes a more realistic description of...

During pregnancy, plasma ACTH and cortisol are chronically increased; this appears to occur through a reset of hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity. We have hypothesized that differences in mineralocorticoid receptor activity in pregnancy may alter feedback inhibition of the HPA axis. We tested the effect of MR antagonism in pregnant and nonpregnant ewes infused for 4 h with saline or t...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of premating ewe weight and age on ewe reproductive performance, lamb growth and survival in Central Anatolian Merino (CAM) sheep. The trial included 4935 ewes and 5548 lambs from 23 breeder flocks in Eskişehir Province. The live weights (LWs) and ages of the ewes were recorded 1 week before the mating season. The number of lambs born, fertility...

This study aimed at investigating the possible linkage between natural scrapie and alterations of the somatotropic axis. Scrapie-affected ewes exhibited 2-fold higher mean GH concentrations during both autumn and spring. GH pulse frequencies were higher in scrapie-affected ewes than in control animals (mean+/-S.E.M. number of pulses/24 h: 10.4+/-0.9 and 7.6+/-0.9 for scrapie-affected and contro...