Fig 1 - uploaded by Morteza Mokhtari
Content may be subject to copyright.
Source publication
The objective of this study was to investigate to what extent fertility and lambing season of fat-tailed ewes raised under an extensive production system are related to liveweight, body condition and changes around mating. Ewe liveweight and body condition score (BSC) were recorded in June, July and August over a period of 3 years (19992001) in 11...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... sheep in the extensive production system practised in western Iran ranged from late spring (June) to late autumn (December). The maximum mating percentage was in July (49.1%). This resulted in an extended lambing period from early autumn (October), which continued until mid spring (May). The maximum lambing percentage (40.0%) was in December (Fig. ...
Similar publications
The ability of 11 species of annual medics
(Medicago doliata, M. laciniata,
M. littoralis, M. minima,
M. orbicularis, M. polymorpha,
M. praecox, M. rigidula,
M. rigiduloides, M. tornata and
M. truncatula) to nodulate and fix nitrogen with
naturalised rhizobia from 28 South Australian soils was assessed. The number
of rhizobia in the soils was estim...
Benefits of ewe lamb mating include improved lifetime production, increased rates of genetic gain and higher net profits. These benefits are only achieved if the ewe lamb successfully rears its offspring to weaning. Ameta-analytic approach was used to assess the effects of birthweight and the interacting effect of birth rank on the survival to wean...
A series of three related experiments are described in which genetic parameters associated with belly bareness were estimated, and the fleeceweight and time taken to shear ewes and hoggets with a range of belly bareness were compared. The naturally bare area of skin on the belly was scored on lambs at weaning from a composite flock of New Zealand c...
This paper reports on both the individual and combined effects of age (AFC)
and liveweight (LWFC) at first calving for Australian Holstein–Friesian
heifers on first lactation production. One hundred and thirty-five Australian
Holstein–Friesian heifers were allocated to 1 of 3 AFC treatments.
Within each AFC treatment, heifers were randomly assigned...
This study aimed to examine the impact of early weaning on residual feed intake, and other production and carcass traits, in a group of cattle subjected to early or conventional weaning treatments, but otherwise managed as contemporaries. Shorthorn (n = 140) calves were randomly allocated by sex and sire to early and conventional weaning treatments...
Citations
... The fertility rates of older ewes were reduced as the significance of the decrement, the oocyte qualities (Arranz et al., 2008;Fukui et al., 2010;Palacin et al., 2012). According to Esmailizadeh et al. (2009) report when the age of ewes increases from 2 to 7 years, the fertility rate of ewes declined from 29 to 5%. It was similar in this study when the age of ewe increases from 1 to 4 years, the pregnancy and prolificacy rates decreased by 18.75 and 6.25%, respectively. ...
... Currently, BCS is being used as a rapid indicator of the animals' energy reserves [5], incorporated into standard veterinary clinical practice, flock health management planning, and animal-welfare and feed-efficiency assessment protocols to monitor and benchmark associated changes between and within flocks [28]. Compared to the live body weight, BCS disregards skeletal variations between breeds, and remains unaffected by the animal's short-term physiological state, gut fill, and fleece characteristics [1,[29][30][31][32]. However, studies by Ref. [1,[33][34][35] have highlighted the positive association between BCS and live body weight, which was further estimated by Ref. [4], who found that, a one-unit increase in the BCS was associated with a 5 to 10-kg rise in the live body weight. ...
Modern livestock farming systems face the challenge of meeting the growing demand for dairy and meat products while ensuring the well-being of animals. Body Condition Scoring serves as a vital process for assessing the body reserves in animals, impacting their health, welfare, and productivity. However, traditional body condition score (BCS) evaluation methods via observation and palpation of specific anatomical regions are labor-intensive and subjective, hindering their widespread adoption. To address this issue, Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) techniques, particularly those involving Internet of Things (IoT) devices and artificial intelligence (AI), have emerged as promising solutions. In this work, we explore the use of AI, specifically Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), to automate the assessment of BCS in goats utilizing imagery data. Our model was trained on 5000 images illustrating the dorsal view of the backside of goats achieving an overall accuracy of 97.94% which was the highest compared to other popular deep learning architectures from literature (e.g. VGG16, ResNet34, ResNet50, DenseNet, GoogleNet). The proposed custom CNN model for goat-specific BCS estimation overcomes the limitations of manual sketching, providing automatic region identification for BCS assessment. Moreover, it is a lightweight model specifically designed for seamless integration with IoT devices, allowing for efficient on-board processing via cameras. The model's pose-independent nature and adaptability to environmental constraints make it a valuable tool for efficient and sustainable goat farming. This research advances the application of AI as a precision livestock farming tool, contributing to the reinforcement of the animal welfare and productivity, and supporting evidence-based decision-making processes to increase farms’ resilience.
... In contrast to live weight, it is unaffected by gut fullness, the length and moisture of the fleece, or the variables of skeletal size, breed, and physiological status. (Kenyon et al., 2014;Russel 1969;Gonzalez et al., 1997;Esmailizadeh et al., 2009). One of the variables that influences how productive and receptive ewes are is their body weight. ...
... In contrast to live weight, it is unaffected by gut fullness, the length and moisture of the fleece, or the variables of skeletal size, breed, and physiological status. (Kenyon et al., 2014;Russel 1969;Gonzalez et al., 1997;Esmailizadeh et al., 2009). One of the variables that influences how productive and receptive ewes are is their body weight. ...
Article information Article history: To study the impact of the body condition score (BCS) of ewes on body weight (BW) and body weight gain (BWG) of ewes and lambs and the effect of weaning age on BW and BWG of lambs, thirty Awassi ewes (2-3 years old) with their borne male lambs were used in the study. Ewes condition-scored and assigned to three groups, 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd groups were with BCS 2.5, 3 and 3.5 respectively. Lambs weaned neither 60 or 90 days (5 lambs for each), the study lasted 90 days. The analyzed data showed significant (P≤0.05) differences in high BCS ewes; also, lambs BW increased significantly by 3 and 3.5 compared with 2.5 BCS at the 4 th , 6 th , and 8 th weeks of the study. Total BWG was higher significantly for BCS-3 and 3.5 ewe's lambs. While body weight increased significantly for BCS-3 and 3.5 ewe lambs at the 10 th and 12 th weeks of study. Ewes were significantly heavier whose weaned her lambs at 60 days, while lambs weaned at 90 days had higher BW at the 10 th and 12 th weeks of the study. BWG was better significantly (P≤0.05) for BCS-2.5 and 3 in lambs at 12 th week. In conclusion, this means that BCS-3 lambs had a higher BW, while 2.5 and 3 BCS lambs had a better BWG at the end of the study.
... Increasing liveweight or condition score at mating has positive effects on the subsequent reproductive performance of ewes and this is well recognised in Australia (Killeen 1967;Cumming et al. 1975;Kelly et al. 1983;Kleeman and Walker 2005;Ferguson et al. 2011) and internationally (Coop 1962;Adalsteinsson 1979;Gonzalez et al. 1997;Esmailizadeh et al. 2009;Kenyon et al. 2014;Corner-Thomas et al. 2015). Condition score is a subjective assessment made by physical palpation of the muscle and fat on and around the backbone of the sheep (Russel et al. 1969). ...
Context Increasing mating weight or condition score increases the lambing potential of ewes (fetuses scanned per 100 ewes joined). Aim We hypothesised that in some years, condition score would contribute an additional effect to mating weight on lambing potential. Methods Border Leicester Merino and Merino ewes were mated naturally to Merino or Terminal rams between 2008 and 2013 at eight linked sites across Australia. Border Leicester Merino ewes were mated in their first year while Merino ewes were not mated until their second year. All ewes were mated for a second time as 2 year olds (Border Leicester Merinos) or 3 year olds (Merino). A total of 4270 Border Leicester Merino and 5788 Merino ewes were weighed and condition scored at mating and scanned for pregnancy. Key results Lambing potential increased by 3.1% per 1 kg increase in mating weight, compared to 1.3% for 1 and 2 year old Border Leicester Merinos respectively, and by 2.1% compared to 1.4% for 2 and 3 year old Merinos respectively (P < 0.05). Lambing potential increased by 27% compared to 13% per increase in condition score for 1 and 2 year old Border Leicester Merinos respectively, and by 29% compared to 25% for for 2 and 3 year old Merinos respectively (P < 0.05). All relationships were linear. When both mating weight and condition score were fitted together, mating condition score explained additional variation to weight in one instance of all the 160 possible breed (n = 2) × age (n = 2) × site (n = 8) × mating year (n = 5) combinations. Conclusions Mating weight and condition score increased the lambing potential of ewes linearly with differences due to ewe age, year and possibly ewe breed. Mating condition score rarely explained additional variation in lambing potential to weight in young Merino or Border Leicester Merino ewes. Implications If ewes are weighed at mating then condition scoring is of minimal extra benefit to predict lambing potential. Achieving the heaviest possible mating weights or highest condition score maximises the lambing potential of ewes in their first two mating years.
... The fertility rates of older ewes were reduced as the significance of the decrement, the oocyte qualities (Arranz et al., 2008;Fukui et al., 2010;Palacin et al., 2012). According to Esmailizadeh et al. (2009) report when the age of ewes increases from 2 to 7 years, the fertility rate of ewes declined from 29 to 5%. It was similar in this study when the age of ewe increases from 1 to 4 years, the pregnancy and prolificacy rates decreased by 18.75 and 6.25%, respectively. ...
The complex anatomical structure of the ewe reproductive tract accompanied with low quality of frozen ram semen for artificial insemination, resulted in a challenge with regard to using superior genotypes for reproductive ovine performance. Hence, improved genetics in ovine management has not been efficiently and widely used especially in undeveloped countries. Therefore, intrauterine semen deposition by laparoscopic insemination should be adopted in the current sheep production systems. Thus, this study aimed to assess the pregnancy rate and lambing rate of ewe inseminated by laparoscopic insemination techniques using frozen-thawed semen. The research used imported frozen semen from two rams of the Lacaune breed. Ewes were grouped according to age in years (1, 2 and 4). Before insemination, the semen was examined microscopically for its motility and viability and thereafter the laparoscopic artificial insemination technique was performed to 19 Lacaune breed ewes using frozen-thawed semen. The overall pregnancy and prolificacy rates were 31.57% and 42.10% respectively. Out of 2 ewes in the 1-year age group that were inseminated, only 1 ewe lambed representing 50%. However, from 16 ewes inseminated of four-year age group, 5 ewes lambed representing 31.25%. Significant difference based on age group was not evaluated due disproportionate of the data, (such that the data included 2 ewes in one-year-old age, 1 ewe in 2-year-old age and 16 ewes in 4-year-old age). Based on the ram semen, 33.33% and 30% of the inseminated ewes were pregnant from ram A and ram B semen respectively. However, in the case of prolificacy rate, 44.44% and 40 % of the ewes lambed from using semen of ram A and B, respectively. There was no significant difference (p>0.05) in pregnancy and prolificacy rates based on semen from the two rams. In conclusion, in this research study, ram semen had no significant effect on pregnancy and prolificacy rates using laparoscopic AI on Lacaune sheep. This could be due to the fact that the rams had very good quality semen. Evaluation of ram semen, accompanied with appropriate ewe selection based on age and rightful deposition of semen could lead to better and more consistent results. Overall this could contribute to the successful application of laparoscopic artificial insemination in Lacaune sheep production systems for enhanced productivity.
... The low efficiency common in this production system derives from several factors, e.g. low reproductive efficiency (Esmailizadeh et al. 2009). Dickerson (1970) suggested that increasing the number of lambs marketed per ewe per year is an important measure to improve the efficiency of meat sheep production and Ekiz et al. (2005) pointed out the major source of income in any sheep production system is lamb production. ...
The present study was carried out to estimate (co)variance components and genetic parameters for some productivity traits of Baluchi ewes. The data were collected during a 31 year period (1984-2014) at the ex-perimental breeding station of Baluchi sheep, which is located in north-east of Mashhad, Iran. The analysis was based on 14030 records of lambs and 4371 records of ewes. Investigated traits were litter size at birth (LSB), litter size at weaning (LSW), litter mean weight per lamb born (LMWLB) and litter mean weight per lamb weaned (LMWLW) as basic traits, total litter weight at birth (TLWB) and total litter weight at weaning (TLWW) as composite traits. Genetic analysis of the studied traits was performed applying re-stricted maximum likelihood (REML) procedure by fitting a linear mixed animal model. Direct heritability estimate for LSB, LSW, LMWLB, LMWLW, TLWB and TLWW were 0.10, 0.08, 0.13, 0.07, 0.12 and 0.05, respectively. Corresponding values for repeatability estimates were 0.18, 0.17, 0.19, 0.15, 0.18 and 0.15, respectively. Direct genetic correlation estimates among the studied traits varied from -0.52 for LSW and LMWLB to 0.99 for TLWB and TLWW. Phenotypic and environmental correlation estimates were generally lower than those of genetic ones. Although low direct heritability’s were estimated for the repro-ductive traits, as these traits are of interest then they used as the primary selection criterion to bring about genetic improvement in ewe productivity traits.
... Furthermore, BCS, in comparison with live weight, circumvents the issues of skeletal size between and within breeds and physiological state (i.e. pregnancy) and is not influenced by gut fill or the length and wetness of the fleece (Jefferies 1961;Adalsteinsson 1979;Russel 1984a, b;Gonzalez et al. 1997;Esmailizadeh et al. 2009). ...
... It could be hypothesised that BCS has limited value in estimating overall fatness levels in fat-tailed breeds of sheep (i.e. the Awassi), which are not common in temperate farming scenarios. However, as outlined later in the review, BCS is still related to ewe performance in fat-tailed ewes (Hossamo et al. 1986;Atti et al. 2001;Esmailizadeh et al. 2009;Aliyari et al. 2012). ...
... Similarly, Romney and Kivircik ewes of BCS of 2.0 and 2.5, respectively, at breeding, were more likely to get pregnant than ewes of lower BCS (Kenyon et al. 2004b;Yilmaz et al. 2011). Analysing the same issue another way, pregnant ewes had a higher mean BCS than their non-pregnant counterparts in Kurdi (Esmailizadeh et al. 2009) and in various breeds (Gonzalez et al. 1997). In manipulative studies, Gunn & Doney (1979) reported that when Cheviot ewes were fed to maintain a set BCS, those ewes with a BCS of 3.0 had higher pregnancy rates at first mating than ewes with a BCS of 2.0. ...
Body condition scoring of sheep was first developed as a technique in the 1960s. Unlike live weight, it circumvents the issues of skeletal size, breed and physiological state and is not influenced by gut fill or the length and wetness of the fleece. This review outlines the use of the technique and the relationships between body condition score and other physical measures. In addition, it summarises the literature, across a range of breeds and environments, on the effects of body condition score on reproductive and lactational performance, and the growth and survival of the offspring to weaning. We have proposed that while the relationship between body condition and production traits is positive, it is unlikely to be linear. Where appropriate, the review outlines areas that would benefit from further research. Finally, it outlines what a suitable body condition score profile might be for a ewe over the entire breeding cycle.
... ; *Q > . (Esmailizadeh et al., 2009) (Osman, 1987) ...
The genetic diversity of the world’s livestock populations is decreasing, both within and across breeds. The
conservation of livestock genetic variability is thus important, especially when considering possible future changes in production environments. Current research focuses on GIS analysis of the sheep diversity based on fecundity and DNAmarkers of four sheep breeds over Iran. A totalof 97 mature ewes (Afshari=19; Baluchi=18; Makui=30 and Mehraban=30) collected with known single or twin lambings from different locations of Iran to assess genetic diversity of fecundity using morphology, DNA information analysis and DIVA-geographic information system (GIS). Polymorphism of two GDF9 and BMP15 candidate geneswas investigated using PCR-RFLP. Litter size was significantly influenced by genotype of each gene, and heterozygous genotypes for both loci showed higher litter size than the homozygous genotypes (P<0.01). According to the obtainedresults, the regions that are richest in diversity located in North West of Iran. DIVA-GIS showed the highest diversity index for fecundity between Iranian indigenous sheep. The highest diversity index for fecundity was observed in the sheep breed from North West parts of Iran.
... The low reproductive performance of the ewe may affect the efficiency and benefit cost of ewe production systems in Iran (1). Generally in Iran, sheep raised under semi-intensive systems with a high mobility are less fertile and less prolific compared to sheep raised under intensive systems (2). ...
Background: Equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) is commonly used in association with a progestagen treatment to synchronize estrus of goats and ewes during breeding and non-breeding seasons. Classical purification of the eCG from serum includes pH fractionation with metaphosphoric acid two ethanol precipitation steps as well as dialysis followed by fixed-bed chromatography.
Objectives: The aim of the current study was to develop an accurate and fast method for production and purification of eCG using a polyclonal antibody assay.
Materials and Methods: The blood samples (300 mL) were taken from the jugular vein of 17 mares on days 50, 70 and 90 of pregnancy. Plasma of the samples was siphoned and phenol solution was added to the plasma and stored in the refrigerator until eCG extraction. To prepare the polyclonal antibody against eCG, four male rabbits, about four months old with 2 kg weight, were chosen. A basic immunization was done by injecting 25 IU of eCG to the rabbits. Ouchterlony assay or double immunodiffusion test was used to assess the immunization and the titer of antiserum against eCG. eCG was purified from the plasma via the solid-phase extraction (SPE) method.
Results: Results based on agarose-gel double immunodiffusion test showed that rabbits were completely immunized. SDS-PAGE analysis showed purified eCG is extracted without any significant contamination.
Conclusions: The extraction of eCG with polyclonal antibody using the SPE method and production of anti- eCG antiserum in rabbits is suitable and may be a cost effective method for large scale production of eCG and anti-eCG antiserum in Iran.
