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Effects of Melatonin, Progestagens, and the Ram on Out-of-Season Reproduction in Swedish Landrace Finewool Sheep

Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica volume 39, pages 499–510 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

One hundred twenty-one Swedish Landrace Finewool ewes were treated with progestagen sponges (P), teaser ram stimulation (R), or melatonin implants plus teaser ram stimulation (M) in preparation for breeding with whole rams in August. Blood progesterone analyses from ewes in the R and M groups gave no evidence of luteal activity before the introduction of teaser rams. There were no significant differences between treatments for pregnancy rate (~90%). The P group had the most compact lambing season, while median breeding dates for M and R groups were delayed by one cycle. In those groups, the introduction of breeding rams was later found to have been too late. M and R differed significantly for probable conception date but not for lambing dates. Circa 30% of M ewes did not have a short 6 day ovulation cycle after the first ovulation, which resulted in a less concentrated lambing season than the other methods. Although no significant differences in litter size were seen among the 3 treatments, M had the highest group average, 2.25. The ewes in this study were not in very deep anestrous in the middle of August. This supports the conclusion that treatment with exogenous hormones is not necessary to breed Swedish Landrace Finewool ewes successfully in late August/early September.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, S-750 07, Uppsala, Sweden

    P. J. Gates, T. Henningsson & G. Tengroth

  2. Department of Clinical Chemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden

    M. Forsberg

  3. Centre for Reproductive Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden

    M. Forsberg

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  1. P. J. Gates
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  2. T. Henningsson
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  3. G. Tengroth
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  4. M. Forsberg
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Correspondence to P. J. Gates.

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Gates, P.J., Henningsson, T., Tengroth, G. et al. Effects of Melatonin, Progestagens, and the Ram on Out-of-Season Reproduction in Swedish Landrace Finewool Sheep. Acta Vet Scand 39, 499–510 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03547776

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Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica

ISSN: 1751-0147