Lifetime productivity of single- and twin-born Corriedale sheep and their dams

1986 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 631 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Gonzalez ◽  
R Bonnet ◽  
JC Guerra ◽  
D Labuonora

Differences in the productivity of twin- and single-bearing, spring-lambing Corriedale ewes and their progeny were studied over 8 years at the Experimental Station, Faculty of Agriculture, Paysandu, Uruguay. Lambing ewes, grazing improved pastures during late pregnancy and early lactation, produced 9.7% less wool than dry ewes, gestation and lactation accounting for 4.5 and 5.2% of this difference, respectively. No difference in wool production was found between ewes rearing 1 or 2 lambs. Twin-born sheep produced 1.8% less wool than singles, but the difference decreased with age. Twin-born ewes had a 7.5% higher lambing rate than single-born ewes, but the mortality rate among their lambs was higher (37.1 v. 20.4%). The liveweight of single-born sheep was higher than that of twins by 20.4%, 16.0% and 11.4% at marking, weaning and 11 1 days of age, respectively. We suggest that the difference in productivity between twin- and single-bearing ewes, and their lambs, can be minimised by adequate nutrition in late pregnancy and early lactation.

1979 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Khalaf ◽  
D. L. Doxey ◽  
J. T. Baxter ◽  
W. J. M. Black ◽  
J. FitzSimons ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTOne hundred and thirty-nine Scottish Half bred ewes were studied during the last 8 weeks of pregnancy, through parturition and early lactation. They were divided, on the basis of their metabolizable energy intake during this period, into low (483 MJ/ewe; L), medium (742 MJ/ewe; M) or high (974 MJ/ewe; H) feeding groups.Ewe weight change (from mating to 12 h post lambing) was directly related to nutritional level and the number of lambs born, e.g. L ewes with triplets lost a mean 13·8 kg, while H ewes with single lambs gained 14·3 kg.Lamb birth weight and perinatal lamb mortality levels were affected by ewe nutrition and litter size. L twins weighed 19% less at birth than H twins; L triplets weighed 26% less than H triplets. The mortality rate of L twins was 23% greater than M twins; L triplets exceeded the H triplet mortality rate by 87%.Ewe energy feeding during late pregnancy affected the mean daily weight gain of lambs for at least 3 weeks after birth. H single, twin and triplet lambs grew 12%, 15% and 16% faster than M lambs and 19%, 31 % and 31 % faster than L lambs respectively.The H group produced 33 % more lamb live weight at 3 weeks of age for every lamb born than did the L group.Lamb serum immunoglobulin levels were related to litter size but did not reflect the differences in ewe feeding during late pregnancy.


1983 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 537 ◽  
Author(s):  
JR Donnelly ◽  
FHW Morley ◽  
GT McKinney

Spring-lambing Merino and crossbred ewes grazing on dryland lucerne pastures were generally heavier throughout the year than ewes grazing on phalaris and subterranean clover pastures, even though they experienced greater weight losses during winter. These losses were mostly eliminated by compensatory gains in spring. Annual fleece weights of the Merino ewes grazing on lucerne or phalaris and subterranean clover pastures declined linearly by 146 and 64 g respectively for each additional ewe carried over a range of stocking rates from 9 to 18 ha-1. Corresponding figures for crossbred ewes were 114 and 46 g. In each case the difference between pasture species was significant (P < 0.02). Only at the lowest stocking rates were fleeces from ewes on lucerne heavier (by c. 500 g) than those from ewes on phalaris. At the highest stocking rates, there were no advantages in terms of wool production from grazing breeding ewes on lucerne. Not only was there a greater need for supplementary feed during late pregnancy to avoid losses from pregnancy toxaemia, but the lucerne pastures at all stocking rates proved more sensitive to unfavourable physical and chemical characteristics of soils than did phalaris and subterranean clover pastures. The fleece weights of Merino and crossbred ewes declined, on average, by 70 and 50 g per year for ewes aged between 1+ and 6+ years. Pregnancy reduced fleece weights by 5-10% in Merinos and 5-21% in crossbred ewes, depending on seasonal conditions which varied from year to year. For Merinos only, dry ewes grew about 4% more wool than lactating ewes. No other effects of reproduction on fleece weights were observed.


1975 ◽  
Vol 15 (73) ◽  
pp. 159 ◽  
Author(s):  
PA Kenney ◽  
IF Davis

A study was made during a three year period (1 968-1 970) of wool production by a flock of 540 ewes grazing annual pasture at Werribee, Victoria. The ewes were stocked at three rates (5, 7 1/2 and 10 ewes ha-1) and lambed between July 6 and August 20 or between September 10 and October 29 each year. Fibre diameter and length of wool samples were measured in 1968, 1969 and 1970 ; in 1970 growth of greasy wool was calculated from staples of dye-banded wool. Wool growth was reduced in all ewes during late pregnancy and early lactation but was not affected during late lactation in ewes lambing in September. The proportion of tender fleeces from all ewes was greater in 1970 and the weight of fleeces from only those ewes bearing single lambs was less in all years for ewes lambing in July than for ewes lambing in September. More ewes were barren and fewer ewes had twins in July and consequently the mean fleece weights of all ewes from both groups were similar. Fleeces from ewes stocked at 10 ha-1 were lighter, shorter and finer than fleeces from ewes stocked at 5 and 7 1/2 ha-1, but the proportion of tender fleeces did not differ between the groups. Wool production of ewes stocked at 5 and 7 1/2 ha-1 increased from 1968 to 1970, whereas that of ewes at 10 ha-1 did not. This was associated with differences in pasture availability and composition. At 10 ewes ha-1 less pasture was present in winter and spring in 1970 than in 1968, whereas at the other stocking rates it was greater. In 1970 the density of weeds in autumn was greater and in spring more silver grass (Vulpia spp.) and less brome grass (Bromus spp.) was available at the high stocking rate.


1978 ◽  
Vol 18 (90) ◽  
pp. 52 ◽  
Author(s):  
AJ Williams ◽  
RN Tyrrell ◽  
AR Gilmour

The responses in wool production of Merino ewes to abomasal supplements of casein (56 g day-1) and of a mixture of methionine and cystine were measured during late pregnancy and early lactation. The mixed supplement provided equal quantities of the sulphur amino acids as the casein. The ewes were offered sufficient quantities of a diet of sorghum grain/lucerne hay (in the ratio 7 : 3 by weight) to maintain maternal liveweight. During the final four weeks of pregnancy and the first six weeks of lactation, the cassin supplement increased wool growth (826 vs. 639 g cm-2 day-1). A similar response was observed for fibre diameter (1 9.7 vs. 18.5 pm : P < 0.05). Wool production and fibre diameter did not differ between the ewes supplemented with methionine and cystine and the control ewes during this same period. The ewes supplemented with methionine and cystine produced wool with the greatest sulphur content, and this trait was least in the wool from the control ewes (3.84 vs. 3.64 vs. 3.49: P < 0.05). We concluded that the availability of the sulphur amino acids was not primarily limiting wool production in pregnant/lactating ewes.


1968 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. HEITZMAN

SUMMARY The activities of uridine diphosphate glucose (UDPG) pyrophosphorylase and UDPG-4′-epimerase in mammary glands of rabbits were determined in late pregnancy and lactation. The activities in animals during the last 4 days of pregnancy and during days 0–4, 5–9 and 11–21 of lactation increased but the difference in the activities was significant between the days 5–9 and 11–21 only and for the pyrophosphorylase activity between days for 0–4 and 5–9. Prolactin and cortisol acetate given daily for 3 or 5 days to rabbits pseudopregnant for 15 days caused increases in enzyme activities that were several times greater than those found in controls. The enzyme activities in the stimulated glands were similar to those observed in early lactation. The levels of deoxyribonucleic acid/g. wet tissue were the same in the stimulated and lactating glands.


1955 ◽  
Vol 1955 ◽  
pp. 52-54
Author(s):  
H. B. Parry

Toxaemia of late pregnancy (twin-lamb disease) is one of the principal causes of loss of in-lamb ewes in Great Britain. The mortality rate from this disorder alone in individual lowland flocks reaches 20% in certain seasons and occasionally 25% of the flock, even in winters when exceptionally severe weather is not experienced. In hill sheep with their lower lambing rate the disease is said to be infrequent. While no data are available for the loss from this disorder for the whole country, a conservative estimate, based on my own figures, is that 2% of the lowland lambing flocks die in an average season. If half of the 11 million breeding ewes in the United Kingdom are considered as lowland sheep, the total deaths each year from toxaemia are probably about 100,000 ewes and 200,000 lambs, representing a loss to the sheep industry of between £1 and £2 million per annum. In a difficult season such as 1954-55, the loss is probably nearer £2-5 million. As the disease is widespread in many of the principal sheep-rearing areas of the world, the annual loss in the Commonwealth, with over 100 million breeding ewes, is probably of the order of £10 million per annum.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 884
Author(s):  
Emmanuelle Haslin ◽  
Rene A. Corner-Thomas ◽  
Paul R. Kenyon ◽  
Adrian J. Molenaar ◽  
Stephen T. Morris ◽  
...  

The experiment aimed to examine the impacts of an increased growth rate of ewes between three and seven months of age on udder development using ultrasound and to establish whether ultrasonography could be used to identify ewe mammary structures that may be indirect indicators of singleton growth to weaning. Udder dimensions, depths of gland cistern (GC), parenchyma (PAR) and fat pad (FP) were measured in late pregnancy (P107), early lactation (L29), and at weaning (L100) in 59 single-bearing yearling ewes selected from two treatments. The ‘heavy’ group (n = 31) was preferentially fed prior to breeding achieving an average breeding live-weight of 47.9 ± 0.38 kg at seven months of age. The ‘control’ group (n = 28) had an average breeding live-weight of 44.9 ± 0.49 kg. Udder dimensions, GC, PAR and FP did not differ between treatments. Lamb growth to L100 was positively associated (p < 0.05) with PAR at P107 and GC at L29. There was no evidence of negative effects of the live-weight gain treatments on udder development of yearling ewes as measured by ultrasonography. The results suggest that this ultrasound method has the potential to identify pregnant yearling ewes which would wean heavier singletons.


1969 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 579-585
Author(s):  
K. Schollberg ◽  
E. Seiler ◽  
J. Holtorff

ABSTRACT The urinary excretion of testosterone and epitestosterone by women in late pregnancy has been studied. The mean values of 22 normal women in pregnancy mens X are 12.9 ± 9.2 μg/24 h in the case of testosterone and 16.1 ± 16.2 μg/24 h in the case of epitestosterone. Both values do not differ significantly from those of non-pregnant females. The excretion values of mothers bearing a male foetus (17.3 ± 8.9 μg/24 h) are higher than those of mothers with a female foetus (6.4 ± 4.8 μg/24 h). The difference is statistically significant with P = 0.01.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Namyoung Park ◽  
Sang Hyub Lee ◽  
Min Su You ◽  
Joo Seong Kim ◽  
Gunn Huh ◽  
...  

Abstract Background There is a lack of studies regarding the optimal timing for endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in patients with cholangitis caused by distal malignant biliary obstruction (MBO). This study aims to investigate the optimal timing of ERCP in patients with acute cholangitis associated with distal MBO with a naïve papilla. Methods A total of 421 patients with acute cholangitis, associated with distal MBO, were enrolled for this study. An urgent ERCP was defined as being an ERCP performed within 24 h following emergency room (ER) arrival, and early ERCP was defined as an ERCP performed between 24 and 48 h following ER arrival. We evaluated both 30-day and 180-day mortality as primary outcomes, according to the timing of the ERCP. Results The urgent ERCP group showed the lowest 30-day mortality rate (2.2%), as compared to the early and delayed ERCP groups (4.3% and 13.5%) (P < 0.001). The 180-day mortality rate was lowest in the urgent ERCP group, followed by early ERCP and delayed ERCP groups (39.4%, 44.8%, 60.8%; P = 0.006). A subgroup analysis showed that in both the primary distal MBO group, as well as in the moderate-to-severe cholangitis group, the urgent ERCP had significantly improved in both 30-day and 180-day mortality rates. However, in the secondary MBO and mild cholangitis groups, the difference in mortality rate between urgent, early, and delayed ERCP groups was not significant. Conclusions In patients with acute cholangitis associated with distal MBO, urgent ERCP might be helpful in improving the prognosis, especially in patients with primary distal MBO or moderate-to-severe cholangitis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9-10 (219-220) ◽  
pp. 11-16
Author(s):  
Yerkezhan Zhadykova ◽  
◽  
Sauirbay Sakhanov ◽  
Dulat Turebayev ◽  
Dariyana Kulmirzayeva ◽  
...  

About 3.15 million new cases of colorectal cancer (CRC) are predicted and it is expected that about 1.62 million human will die from this pathology, according to the forecasts of the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2040. To this aim, an analysis studying studying the indicators of the oncological service for CRC also makes it possible to evaluate the ongoing anti-cancer measures in East Kazakhstan region. Aim. Evaluate some indicators of the oncological service at CRC in East Kazakhstan region in 2009 to 2018. Materials and methods. The research material was data from the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan – annual form No. 7 and 35 regarding CRC (ICD 10 – C18-21) for 2009-2018 in East Kazakhstan region – incidence, mortality, early diagnosis, neglect, morphological verification. A retrospective study using descriptive and analytical methods of biomedical statistics was used as the main method. Results and discussion. For 2009-2018, 3,661 new cases of CRC were registered in East Kazakhstan region for the first time. The incidence of CRC was 25.30/0000 and in dynamics tended to increase from 21.90/0000 (2009) to 25.70/0000 in 2018, the difference was statistically significant (t=1.99 and p=0.047). The mortality rate from CRC tended to decrease from 15.50/0000 to 14.70/0000 (p=0.591), and the average annual mortality rate from CRC was 15.60/0000. The indicators of early diagnosis (the proportion of patients with stage I-II) improved from 58.8% (2009) to 62.3% in 2018, and, accordingly, the indicators of the proportion of neglected patients significantly decreased with stage III (from 25.5% to 20.8%), while with stage IV (from 15.7% to 16.9%) there is a slight increase. The indicators of morphological verification in CRC improved from 90.5% to 98.6% during the studied years. Conclusion. An improvement in the indicators of morphological verification and early diagnosis of CRC was found. The obtained results are recommended to be used for monitoring anti-cancer measures in the region. Keywords: colorectal cancer, incidence, mortality, early diagnosis, neglect, morphological verification.


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