Impact of Pre-pubertal Growth Rate on Pubertal Characteristics of Sohagi Ewe Lambs | ||||
| Journal of Animal and Poultry Production | ||||
| Article 3, Volume 12, Issue 1, January 2021, Page 15-17 PDF (774.01 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/jappmu.2021.149443 | ||||
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| Authors | ||||
Mohamed Youssef Elaref   1; G. M. Solouma2; Doaa A. Abdel-latef 2
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| 1Animal Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Sohag University, Sohag, Egypt | ||||
| 2Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Sohag University, Sohag, Egypt | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| This study aimed to investigate the impact of pre-pubertal growth rate on pubertal characteristics of Sohagi ewe lambs. Thirty of Sohagi ewes lambs at 6-7 months of age were divided into three equal groups (n=10 per each group) according to its previous growth rate from birth to 6 months of age, groups marked as fast, medium and low growing. All groups were housed in closed barns with access to an open area and got their nutritional requirements depending on their growth stage. Results show that the pubertal characteristics of Sohagi ewe lambs at puberty were significantly affected (P<0.05) by the pre-pubertal growth rate. Ewe lambs in the fast-growing group were achieved to onset puberty firstly at 235 days on average then ewe lambs in the medium and low-growing group (242.6 and 269.4 days, respectively). Ewe lambs in the fast-growing group were the heaviest at puberty than ewe lambs in the medium and low-growing group (26.4 vs. 23.7 and 22.4 kg, respectively). Blood progesterone concentration was not significantly different among ewe lambs groups (1.419± 0.04 ng/ml on average, ranged from 1.203 to 1.737 ng/ml). In conclusion, results showed that the pre-pubertal growth rate of ewe lambs is one of the most influential factors affecting the development of puberty characteristics. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Sohagi ewe lambs; age and weight at puberty; pre-pubertal growth rate; progesterone concentration | ||||
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