We evaluated the efficiency of selection for body weight in a cooperative village breeding program for Menz sheep of Ethiopia under smallholder farming system. The design of the program involved organizing villagers in a cooperative breeding group to implement selective breeding of their sheep. The program was jump-started through a one-time provision of elite rams from a central nucleus flock,...

Melatonin (MEL) was evaluated for effects on LH, prolactin (PRL) and fertility in spring (Exp. 1, 2) and summer (Exp. 3 to 5). In Exp. 1, 17 ovariectomized ewes bearing estradiol implants were fed 3 mg MEL or vehicle for 44 d beginning May 1. Melatonin decreased (P less than .001) PRL levels but had no effect on LH secretion and response to GnRH. In Exp. 2, 12 ewes each received a 40-d MEL ear ...

The effects of feeding different levels of dried layer litter as a protein source on live weight, testicular weight, gonadal and epididymal sperm reserves of Yankasa rams was investigated in a 98day study. Twenty healthy Yankasa rams with clinically normal genitalia were divided randomly into 4 groups (A, B, C and D) of 5 rams each. Diets containing 12.11% CP, 14.96% CP and 17.94% CP were formu...

Aberrant DNA methylation plays important roles in tumorigenesis, and the nongenotoxic rodent tumor promoter phenobarbital (PB) alters methylation patterns to a greater extent in liver tumor susceptible as compared to resistant mice (Watson and Goodman, 2002). Unique hepatic regions of altered DNA methylation (RAMs) were identified in sensitive B6C3F1, as compared to resistant C57BL/6, mice at 2...

Aim This study was conducted to determine the effect of seasonal variations on testosterone serum concentration, body weight, scrotal circumference, and some sperm parameters in rams living in a semi-arid region of eastern part of Algeria. Materials and Methods Blood samples were taken monthly from eight Ouled Djellal rams, aged between 3 and 4 years, in the Technical Institute of Breeding "I...

Formalised risk assessment models (RAMs) for venous thromboembolism (VTE) using weighted and scored variables have only recently been widely incorporated into international antithrombotic guidelines. Scored and weighted VTE RAMs have advantages over a simplified group-specific VTE risk approach, with the potential to allow more tailored strategies for thromboprophylaxis and an improved estimati...

Two glucose clamp techniques were performed for 6 h starting 2 h before the initiation of feeding to investigate the effect of dietary propionate supplementation on insulin responsiveness to glucose and tissue responsiveness to insulin in relation to feeding in rams. The rams were fed alfalfa hay without (Cont diet) and with 10 mmol.kg BW-1.d-1 of calcium propionate (Prop diet) for 4 weeks in r...

Blood sera samples from 99 clinically healthy goats, 230 sheep and 171 rams were investigated by CF test and indirect ELISA. In case of goats, 3.03% seroprevalence was detected, in sheep it was 3.04%, whereas, in case of rams seroprevalence was 0% by using complement fixation test. Using iELISA in the same groups the seroprevalences observed were, 24.24% in goats, 11.30% in sheep and 5.30% in r...

This study was conducted in the Animal Farm, College of Agriculture, University of Baghdad, from march to may 2013, to clarify the effect of subcutaneous vitamin C injection on semen characteristics of Awassi rams. Six rams (1.5-2 years old) were randomly divided into three groups of 2 rams. Rams in T1and T2 were subcutaneously injected, every other day with dose of 50 and100 mg/kg body weight ...

Two experiments were conducted utilizing ewes to determine the effects of small diameter IUDs on fertility, lengths of estrous cycles and uterine histology. In both experiments, IUDs were inserted bilaterally at day 3 of the estrous cycle (estrus = day 0). The IUDs were single strands of nylon suture (.3 mm diameter) lying free in the uterine lumen except at a point of attachment near the utero...