Ovarian activity of she-camel (Camelus dromedarius) in relation to season, hormonal pattern, age and body condition scores

Abstract

The present work was done to investigate the interrelationship between the ovarian activity and each of seasonal environment, hormonal pattern, age and body condition scores(BCS) in shecamel. Over a period of one year (November 2005-October 2006, jugular blood samples were collected from 320 she-camel (5-20 years old) in Cairo-slaughter house during their antimortum inspection and body condition was scored. Immediately, after slaughter both ovaries were individually collected and morphometric findings were recorded. The results of hormonal assay including estrogen (E), progesterone (P4), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) were recorded. The obtained hormonal levels were studied in relation to the ovarian findings and seasonal variation. Moreover the ovarian activity was studied in relation to age and BCS. According to the ovarian findings and hormonal levels, there is clear breeding season in dromedary camel extended from November to April under Egyptian conditions. Otherwise, the period from May to October (non-breeding season) has a lower ovarian activity and concomitant with lower hormonal levels. She-camel reaches its maturity later and has a higher longevity than cattle. The best reproductive capacity of she-camel are found within 8-15 years of age (BCS,2.92±0.21).

Descriptive analysis of the genital tract of the dromedary (Camelus dromedarius) collected at a slaughterhouse

“…But, it was similar to that found by these same authors for the follicles of 4 to 9 mm in diameter which was equivalent to 0.8 ± 0.2 and 1.0 ± 0.3 and for the follicles of 10 to 20 mm in diameter whose average number was 0.8±0.1 and 1.4±0.2, respectively for pregnant and not-pregnant camels. However, the results of the present work are lower than those found by [17] in Egypt who obtained 22 and 18 follicles of 3-5mm in diameter, 19 and 25 follicles of 6-9mm in diameter, 38 and 52 mature follicles and 12 and 10 follicles with cyst, respectively for the right and left ovary of the camels. This difference observed between the two studies could be linked to the study period and the animal breed.…”