Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T13:51:41.979Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Artificial long days in addition to exogenous melatonin and daily contact with bucks stimulate the ovarian and oestrous activity in Mediterranean goat females

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2011

L. A. Zarazaga ,
M. C. Gatica ,
I. Celi ,
J. L. Guzmán  and
B. Malpaux
L. A. Zarazaga*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciencias Agroforestales, Universidad de Huelva, Carretera de Palos de la Frontera s/n, 21819, Palos de la Frontera, Huelva, Spain
M. C. Gatica
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciencias Agroforestales, Universidad de Huelva, Carretera de Palos de la Frontera s/n, 21819, Palos de la Frontera, Huelva, Spain
I. Celi
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciencias Agroforestales, Universidad de Huelva, Carretera de Palos de la Frontera s/n, 21819, Palos de la Frontera, Huelva, Spain
J. L. Guzmán
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciencias Agroforestales, Universidad de Huelva, Carretera de Palos de la Frontera s/n, 21819, Palos de la Frontera, Huelva, Spain
B. Malpaux
Affiliation:
Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, UMR INRA-CNRS-Université de Tours-Haras Nationaux, Centre INRA de Tours, 37380 Nouzilly, France
*
†E-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

One experiment was conducted to determine whether the treatment with artificial long days and exogenous melatonin can induce reproductive activity during spring (seasonal anoestrus) in Mediterranean goats that are in daily contact with bucks and whether this treatment causes a variation in the reactivation of the reproductive activity in the normal breeding season. The experiment started on 4 November 2005 and finished on 27 October 2006. Thirty-four adult and barren does were used, distributed into two groups balanced according to their live weight (LW) and body condition score (BCS). Seventeen females were exposed to long days (16 h of light/day) from 14 November 2005 to 20 February 2006. On 20 February, they received one s.c. melatonin implant (LD-M group) and were exposed to natural photoperiodic changes in an open shed. The other females during the experiment were placed in an open shed under natural photoperiod and remained as the control group (C group). The C and LD-M groups were keeping in contact with males during the whole experiment. During the experiment, the LW, BCS and plasma progesterone concentrations were measured weekly, oestrous activity was tested daily using entire aproned bucks, and ovulation rate was evaluated by laparoscopy 7 days after positive identification of the oestrus. A clear treatment–time interaction was observed for plasma progesterone concentrations (P < 0.001), with a period of high progesterone concentrations during the natural seasonal anoestrus in the LD-M group. Although 94.1% of females in the LD-M group presented ovarian activity during this period, no female in group C did. Resumption of ovarian activity in the subsequent natural breeding season was 2 weeks later in the LD-M group in comparison with group C (P < 0.05). We can conclude that in Mediterranean goat breeding systems, when females are in daily contact with bucks, the treatment with 3 months of long days and melatonin implant at the end of the light photoperiodic treatment can induce ovarian and oestrous activity during the seasonal anoestrus. Finally, this treatment causes a short delay in the subsequent reactivation of ovarian activity in the natural breeding season.

Keywords

goatseasonalityphotoperiodmelatonin
Type
Full Paper
Information
animal , Volume 5 , Issue 9 , 05 August 2011 , pp. 1414 - 1419
Copyright
Copyright © The Animal Consortium 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Argo, CM, Smith, JS, Kay, RNB 1999. Seasonal changes of metabolism and appetite in Soay rams. Animal Science 69, 191–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barenton, B, Ravault, JP, Chabanet, C, Daveau, A, Pelletier, J, Ortavant, R 1988. Photoperiodic control of growth hormone secretion on body weight. Domestic Animal Endocrinology 5, 247–255.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bouillon, J, Lajous, A, Fourcaud, P 1982. Mise en évidence d'un effet chèvres induites, comparable à l'effet bouc chez les caprins. 7èmes Journées de la Recherche Ovine et Caprine, INRA-ITOVIC-SPEOC, Paris, 325–333pp.Google Scholar
Chemineau, P, Daveau, A, Maurice, F, Delgadillo, JA 1992a. Seasonality of oestrus and ovulation is not modified by subjecting female Alpine goats to a tropical photoperiod. Small Ruminant Research 8, 299–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chemineau, P, Malpaux, B, Delgadillo, JA, Guerin, Y, Ravault, JP, Thimonier, J, Pelletier, J 1992b. Control of sheep and goat reproduction: use of light and melatonin. Animal Reproduction Science 30, 157–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chemineau, P, Pelletier, J, Guérin, Y, Colas, G, Ravault, JP, Touré, G, Almeida, G, Thimonier, J, Ortavant, R 1988. Photoperiodic and melatonin treatments for the control of seasonal reproduction in sheep and goats. Reproduction Nutrition Development 28, 409–422.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Delgadillo, JA, Cortez-López, ME, Duarte, G, Malpaux, B 2000. El fotoperiodo modifica la actividad sexual de los machos cabríos Criollos del subtrópico Mexicano. XLIII Congreso Nacional de Ciencias Fisiológicas y 20° Congreso Latinoamericano de Ciencias Fisiológicas, Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico, C 191.Google Scholar
Delgadillo, JA, Canedo, GA, Chemineau, P, Guillaume, D, Malpaux, B 1999. Evidence for an annual reproductive rhythm independent of food availability in male Creole goats in subtropical Northern Mexico. Theriogenology 52, 727–737.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Delgadillo, JA, Cortez, MA, Duarte, G, Chemineau, P, Malpaux, B 2004. Evidence that the photoperiod controls the annual changes in testosterone secretion, testicular and body weight in subtropical male goats. Reproduction Nutrition Development 44, 183–193.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Delgadillo, JA, Gelez, H, Ungerfeld, R, Hawken, PAR, Martin, GB 2009. The ‘male effect’ in sheep and goats-revisiting the dogmas. Behavioural Brain Research 200, 304–314.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Delgadillo, JA, Carrillo, E, Morán, J, Duarte, G, Chemineau, P, Malpaux, B 2001. Induction of sexual activity of male creole goats in subtropical Northern Mexico using long days and melatonin. Journal of Animal Science 79, 2245–2252.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Forcada, F, Zarazaga, L, Abecia, JA 1995. Effect of exogenous melatonin and plane of nutrition after weaning on estrous activity, endocrine status and ovulation rate in Salz ewes lambing in the seasonal anestrus. Theriogenology 43, 1179–1193.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Guzmán, JL, Gatica, MC, Zarazaga, LA 2008. Reactivation of sexual activity in Mediterranean bucks after a treatment with artificial long days and exogenous melatonin during seasonal anoestrous. 9th International Congress of the Spanish Association of Animal Reproduction. Gijón, Spain. Reproduction in Domestic Animal 43, 78pp.Google Scholar
Hervieu, J, Morand-Fehr, P, Schmidely, Ph, Fedele, V, Delfa, R 1991. Mesures anatomiques permettant d'expliquer les variations des notes sternales, lombaires et caudales utilisées pour estimer l’état corporel des chèvres laitières. Options Méditerranéennes 13, 43–56.Google Scholar
Malpaux, B, Robinson, JE, Wayne, NL, Karsch, FJ 1989. Regulation of the onset of the breeding season of the ewe: importance of long days and of an endogenous reproductive rhythm. Journal of Endocrinology 122, 269–278.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marie, M, Findlay, PA, Thomas, L, Adam, CL 2001. Daily patterns of plasma leptin in sheep: effects of photoperiod and food intake. Journal of Endocrinology 170, 277–286.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morand-Fehr, P, Sauvant, D 1988. Alimentation des caprins. In Alimentation des Bovins, Ovins et Caprins (ed. R Jarrige), pp. 281–304. INRA, Paris.Google Scholar
Restall, BJ, Restall, H, Walkden-Brown, SW 1995. The induction of ovulation in anovulatory goats by oestrous females. Animal Reproduction Science 40, 299–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rivera, GM, Alanis, GA, Chaves, MA, Ferrero, SB, Morello, HH 2003. Seasonality of estrus and ovulation in Creole goats of Argentina. Small Ruminant Research 48, 109–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences ( SPSS) 2006. Manual del Usuario Version 15.0, pp. 779. SPSS Inc., Chicago.Google Scholar
Terqui, M, Thimonier, J 1974. Nouvelle méthode radioimmunologique rapide pour l'estimation du niveau de progestérone plasmatique. Application pour le diagnostic précoce de la gestation chez la brebis et la chèvre. Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences Paris 279, 1109–1112.Google Scholar
Véliz, FG, Poindron, P, Malpaux, B, Delgadillo, JA 2006. Maintaining contact with bucks does not induce refractoriness to the male effect in seasonally anestrous female goats. Animal Reproduction Science 92, 300–309.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walkden-Brown, SW, Restall, BJ, Henniawati, 1993. The male effect in the Australian cashmere goat. 3. Enhancement with buck nutrition and use of oestrous females. Animal Reproduction Science 32, 69–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walkden-Brown, SW, Restall, BJ, Scaramuzzi, RJ, Martin, GB, Blackberry, MA 1997. Seasonality in male Australian cashmere goats: Long term effects of castration and testosterone or oestradiol treatment on changes in LH, FSH and prolactin concentrations, and body growth. Small Ruminant Research 26, 237–250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yeates, NTM 1949. The breeding season of the sheep with particular reference to its modification by artificial means using light. Journal of Agricultural Science 39, 1–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zarazaga, LA, Guzmán, JL, Domínguez, C, Pérez, MC, Prieto, R 2005. Effect of plane of nutrition on seasonality of reproduction in Spanish Payoya goats. Animal Reproduction Science 87, 253–267.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zarazaga, LA, Gatica, MC, Celi, I, Guzmán, JL, Malpaux, B 2009a. Effect of melatonin implants on sexual activity in Mediterranean goat females without separation from males. Theriogenology 72, 910–918.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zarazaga, LA, Guzmán, JL, Domínguez, C, Pérez, MC, Prieto, R, Sánchez, J 2009b. Nutrition level and season of birth do not modify puberty of Payoya goat kids. Animal 3, 79–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zarazaga, LA, Gatica, MC, Celi, I, Guzmán, JL, Malpaux, B 2010. Effect of artificial long days and/or melatonin treatment on the sexual activity of Mediterranean bucks. Small Ruminant Research 93, 110–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar