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Duration of melatonin treatment and ovarian activity in ewes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2017

S. Wigzell ,
J.J. Robinson ,
J.M. Wallace  and
R.P. Aitken
S. Wigzell
Affiliation:
Rowett Research Institute, Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB2 9SB
J.J. Robinson
Affiliation:
Rowett Research Institute, Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB2 9SB
J.M. Wallace
Affiliation:
Rowett Research Institute, Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB2 9SB
R.P. Aitken
Affiliation:
Rowett Research Institute, Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB2 9SB
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Extract

Daily oral dosing in mid afternoon with 3 mg of the indoleamine, melatonin, from early June onwards is highly effective in advancing the breeding season of both Greyface and Scottish Blackface ewes kept under a natural photoperiod; the mean reaction interval from initial dosing to the onset of ovarian activity in Scottish Blackface ewes being around 65 days compared with 110 days for untreated controls (Robinson et al 1985). Advancing the starting time for the melatonin treatment to mid-March gave a similar reaction interval with behavioural oestrus occurring in late May/early June (Wigzell et al 1986a). Following this reversal of the breeding season by melatonin, continued melatonin treatment in unmated ewes resulted in a period of oestrous cyclicity lasting 4 to 5 months. Thereafter the ewes became refractory to melatonin and returned to anoestrus at a time when untreated controls were commencing ovarian activity (Wigzell et al 1986b). These observations prompted us to investigate the effects of different durations of melatonin treatment on ovarian activity.

Type
Developments in Sheep Production
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Production (1972) , Volume 1988 , March 1988 , pp. 92
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Production 1988

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References

Robinson, J.J., Aitken, R., Atkinson, T. and Fraser, C. (1985) Animal Production 40, 524.Google Scholar
Wigzell, S., Robinson, J.J., Aitken, R.P. and McKelvey, W.A.C. (1986a) Animal Production 42, 448–449.Google Scholar
Wigzell, S., Robinson, J.J. and Aitken, R.P. (1986b) Proceedings of the Society for the Study of Fertility, Winter Meeting, page 52.Google Scholar