Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T16:48:25.706Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Comparative study of oestrous activity in Finn ewes and two Egyptian fat-tailed sheep under subtropical conditions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

A. M. Aboul-Naga
Affiliation:
Animal Production Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt
M. B. Aboul-Ela
Affiliation:
Animal Production Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt
Ferial A. Hassan
Affiliation:
Animal Production Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt

Summary

Oestroua activity of three flocks of Ossimi (O) and Rahmani (R) subtropical fattailed and imported Finn (F) ewes was followed over a calendar year under the prevailing subtropical conditions in Egypt.

Rahmani had quite consistent oestrous activity throughout the year, with a slight drop in March and June, and may be regarded as a non-seasonal breed. Oestrous activity of the O ewes was lower than the R at different times of the year. They showed high individual variation. Most of the O ewes had an anoestroua period during July–September but had regular oestrous activity during their breeding season.

Overall number of oestruses per ewe per year was 15·9, 13·0 and 10·3 for R, O and F, respectively. Normal cycle length tended to be longer, though not significantly so, in both R and O subtropical breeds than the F (17·8 and 17·6 v. 17·1 days). Heat duration was significantly longer in F (47·0 h) than in both local breeds (37·7 and 37·5 h for R and O, respectively).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

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

REFERENCES

Aboul-Naga, A. M. (1984). Crossbreeding for fecundity in subtropical sheep. In Genetics of Reproduction in Sheep (ed. Land, R. and Robinson, D.). London: Butterworths Scientific.Google Scholar
Aboul-Naqa, A. M. & Aboul-Ela, M. B. (1984). Oestrous activity of Egyptian fat-tailed Ossimi ewes raised at different locations. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 103, 481486.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aboul-Naga, A. M., Aboul-Ela, M. B. & Hassan, F. A. (1985). Oestrous activity of Suffolk, Mutton Merino and their crosses with subtropical Ossimi sheep. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 104, 2734.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aboul-Naga, A. M., Maijala, K. & Aboul-Ela, M. B. (1984). Comparative study of oestrous and ovarian activity of Finnish Landrace ewes raised under the subtropical Egyptian conditions and their half-sibs raised in Finland. Proceedings of the 10th International Congress on Animal Reproduction and Artificial Insemination. June 1014, University of Illinois, U.S.A., paper No. 127.Google Scholar
El-Fouly, M. A., Shafie, M. M., Abdel-Aziz, A. S. & Kandeal, S. A. (1977). Seasonal variation in oestrous activity in Ossirni and Rahmani ewes. Egyptian Journal of Animal Production 17, 7585.Google Scholar
Hafez, E. S. E. (1953). Ovarian activity in Egyptian (fat-tailed) sheep. Research Bulletin, no. 34. Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University.Google Scholar
Mounib, M. S., Ahmed, I. A. & Hamada, M. K. D. (1956). A study of the sexual behaviour of the female Rahmani sheep. Alexandria Journal of Agricultural Research 4, 85107.Google Scholar
Osterberg, S. (1981). Breeding season of the Finn sheep ewe. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica 31, 1116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowell, J. G. & Walters, D. T. (1976). Analysing data with repeated observations on each experimental unit. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 87, 423432.CrossRefGoogle Scholar