Wool grown by ewes with chronic lupinosis, induced by injections of phomopsins, was compared to that grown by control ewes and by ewes pair-fed to the feed intake of the phomopsin-treated ewes, during and after the period of phomopsin administration. Wool growth was not different between the groups during treatment. Fibre diameter and length of wool grown by the phomopsin-treated ewes were redu...

BACKGROUND Main impact of Schmallenberg virus (SBV) on livestock consists in reproductive disorders, with teratogenic effects, abortions and stillbirths. SBV pathogenesis and viral placental crossing remain currently poorly understood. Therefore, we implemented an experimental infection of ewes, inoculated with SBV at 45 or 60 days of gestation (dg). METHODOLOGY "Mourerous" breed ewes were ra...

Ten field and laboratory experiments were conducted in which Merino ewes were treated with one or two 125pg injections of Cloprostenol, an analogue of prostaglandin F2a (PG). All treatments commenced in the luteal phase of the oestrous cycle. Sixty-six percent of ewes were detected in behavioural oestrus within 64 hr of completion of treatments although 95% of all treated ewes ovulated in appar...

Two-hundred-fifty-six crossbred and Targhee ewes which lambed in February and March were randomly assigned to a 38or 73-day postpartum weaning group and within weaning group to a control, an 8or a 16-day progestogen treatment. Treatment was an intravaginal progestogen pessary for 7 days after weaning or for 15 days beginning 8 days before weaning with a 10 mg injection of progesterone on the da...

This study was carried out at Sakha Animal Production Research Station, during the period from Oct., 2009 to Sept., 2010. Forty Rahmani ewes were divided into three treatment groups: the 1st, 2nd and 3rd treatment groups were intramuscularly injected (Day 0) with 1 mL GnRH analogue followed by an intramuscular injection with 0.7 mL PGF2α5 (G1), 6 (G2) or 7 (G3) days later. A second dose of 1 mL...

Background—Animal model studies have shown that the colon tumour promoting eVect of dietary fat depends not only on the amount but on its fatty acid composition. With respect to this, the eVect of n9 fatty acids, present in olive oil, on colon carcinogenesis has been scarcely investigated. Aims—To assess the eVect of an n9 fat diet on precancer events, carcinoma development, and changes in muco...

Bacterial infection shortly after mating interferes with establishment of pregnancy. Injection of peptidoglycan-polysaccharide (PG-PS), a component of gram-positive bacteria, into sheep on day 5 after mating reduces pregnancy rate. Experiments were designed to evaluate the acute-phase response (APR) in ewes to injection of PG-PS on day 5 after mating (day 0). Catheters were inserted into the ju...

In Exp. I, 0.5 mg oestradiol or vehicle (0.5 ml absolute ethanol + 0.5 ml 0.9% NaCl) was injected i.v. at 08:00 h on Day 14 (onset of oestrus = Day 0). Blood samples were obtained via a jugular catheter at 30 and 1 min before oestradiol and every 30 min for 10 h afterwards. Plasma was obtained and assayed for 15-keto-13,14-dihydro-PGF-2 alpha (PGFM) by radioimmunoassay. Before oestradiol, PGFM ...

The effect of gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) treatment on the time of ovulation and the occurrence of follicular dominance during the non-breeding and breeding seasons (experiment 1), and on fertility after artificial insemination (AI) in the non-breeding season (experiment 2), was examined in Merino ewes. Oestrus was synchronized in 40 nulliparous ewes (experiment 1; n = 20, in the non-...

Behavioral estrus of castrated and with progesterone treated ewes, induced by implantation of 17-beta-estradiol into the area controlling the sexual behavior, was completely modified as compared with that of castrated but non treated with progesterone ones. The length of behavioral estrus in the non treated ewes was 24-30 hr and its symptoms were rather weakly expressed. On the contrary, the ew...