Data of 23 189 Merino ewes (8 farms), 7692 Dohne Merino ewes (3 farms) and 2399 SA Mutton Merino ewes (1 farm) were recorded for the 1988-1991 lambing seasons. The udders of ewes present at lamb marking were inspected to differentiate between barren (unlambed), lambed and lost (lambed ewes suckling no progeny), and wet (lambed and suckling ~ 1 lamb) ewes, using the 'wet and dry' technique. The ...

Laproscopy was used in 400 ewes from 3 commercial flocks to study the difference in fertility of ewes mated in the first vs. second 2 weeks of the joining period. Examination of the ovaries of the ewes at joining and 14 days after joining revealed that 23% of the ewes did not experience a 'quiet ovulation' at the beginning of their breeding season but ovulated and displayed oestrus simultaneous...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of two dietary metabolizable protein (MP) concentrations on the performance and health status of Afshari ewes and survival and growth of their lambs during late pregnancy. For 6 weeks prior to lambing, 32 Afshari ewes were randomly assigned to two dietary treatments, containing low (LMP) or high (HMP) MP concentrations. The ewes in LMP (n=16)...

Previous research has shown that the proportion of seasonal anoestrous ewes that ovulate in response to the introduction of rams ('ram effect') is dependent upon pheromonal and sexual behavioural stimuli emitted by the rams. Close contact with oestrous ewes is likely to increase the rams' libido and level of testosterone secretion, which in turn has been suggested to positively influence the pr...

The objective of this study was to test the null hypothesis that heat production (HP) was equivalent between Suffolk and Texel ewes at common fasted BW and at common ages. Open-circuit respiration calorimetry was used to estimate HP in 48 Suffolk and 48 Texel ewes at eight ages (10, 15, 20, and 28 wk of age and 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, and 4.5 yr of age). Sheep were individually penned in an environmenta...

Elevated dietary nitrate (NO3-) is associated with production losses in ruminant livestock, resulting in substantial economic losses incurred by producers. Severe drought, fertilization practices and poorly maintained pastures increase the risk of elevated NO3- intake among cattle and sheep. Nitrate is metabolized to nitrite (NO2-) in the rumen and further reduced to ammonia. Ruminants consumin...

Thin ewes or very over-conditioned ewes and ewes carrying multiple pregnanciesare more likely to develop pregnancy toxemia (ketosis). Pregnancy toxemia is a metabolic disorder characterized by hypoglycemia and hyperketonemia resulting from incapacity of the ewes to maintain adequate energy balance (usually in the last 5-6 weeks).Available information about pregnancy toxemia focuses mainly on pa...

The objectives of this study were to determine if exposing seasonally anovular ewes to rams would alter patterns of cortisol concentrations, and if these changes are associated with changes in characteristics of LH concentrations. Seasonally anestrous ewes were assigned to be exposed to rams (RE; n=11) or wethers (NE; n=12). Blood samples were collected at 15-min intervals beginning 120 min bef...

An experiment was conducted to determine whether controlled internal drug release devices-type G (CIDR-G) could be used in conjunction with the ram effect to advance the breeding season and lambing and thereafter could be reapplied to stimulate breeding of ewes to produce a second lambing in late summer. Finn crossbred and Columbia ewes were treated with CIDR-G from July 6 to 18. Rams, which ha...

In Exp. 1, ovulation rate was measured in three groups of Romanov ewes given two injections of 600 i.u. PMSG 3 weeks apart with the ewes intact (Group I, N = 8), a similar treatment with the ewes intact at the first injection and unilaterally ovariectomized at the second (Group II, N = 8), or unstimulated ewes which were hemispayed at the same time as Group II ewes (Group III, N = 6). In Exp. 2...