Relationship Between Pelvic Dimensions, Other Body Measurements and Dystocia in Dorset Horn Ewes

Fogarty, NM; Thompson, James

doi:10.1111/j.1751-0813.1974.tb14055.x

Cited by 17 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The average birthweight of Heath Sheep, however, was only 2.7 kg and in Texel Sheep 4.5 kg. Quinlivan (1971) and Fogarty and Thompson (1974) proved also that internal pelvic dimensions are important in explaining parturition difficulties. McSporran and Fielden (1979) confirmed this in radiographic studies and they conclude that incompatibility in size between maternal pelvis and the lamb is largely responsible for the need for assistance at birth.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Parturition difficulties in sheep

Grommers

Elving

Eldik

1985

Animal Reproduction Science

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Anim. Reprod. Sci., 9: 365--374.The incidence of difficult parturition was recorded in Texel Sheep lambs (224), Milk Sheep lambs (273) and various crossbreeds (1043) in ten spring lambing seasons. At lambing time the ewes were under 24-hour observation.Difficult parturition is defined as necessity for obstetrical assistance as a result of failure of expulsion or progress within a given time limit.The course of parturition was recorded on a standard protocol. Shortly after parturition ewes and lambs were weighed and several body measurements of the lambs were taken.In this first report of the study, special attention is given to the influence of presentation of the lambs at birth. Presentation type is divided into four categories:--

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Parturition difficulties in sheep

Grommers

Elving

Eldik

1985

Animal Reproduction Science

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“…The 8% larger pelvic opening for MR ewes agrees with the 9% larger body size (Knight & Hockey 1982) of MR ewes compared with Romney ewes. In Dorset and Border Leicester ewes, body length was correlated to both conjugate diameter and pelvic area (Fogarty & Thompson 1974).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…The area of the pelvic opening of ewes with a history of dystocia was smaller than for ewes with no history of dystocia (Quinlivan 1971;Fogarty & Thompson 1974). McSporran & Fielden (1979) used radiographic pelvimetry to measure the conjugate and transverse diameters of groups of Romney ewes with and without a history of dystocia and of MR ewes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of factors contributing to the improved lamb survival in Marshall Romney sheep

Knight

Lynch²,

Hall³

et al. 1988

New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research

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In each of three years (1979, 1980, 1981) 260 -280 mixed age Marshall Romney (MR) and 300 -400 mixed age control Romney (CR) ewes were allocated to eight groups with ewes of each strain present in each group. Four groups were single-sire-mated with four MR rams and the other four groups with four CR rams. A new selection of rams was used each year. The haemoglobin type of all ewes and rams was determined. Ewes were weighed 3 -4 weeks before the beginning of lambing and their respective weights adjusted to conceptus-free weights. At lambing, the lambs born to each ewe were identified and birth weight, pelvic width, and head and chest circumferences were measured. Each day dead lambs were picked up and autopsied. In the last 2 years this included looking for cranial and spinal haemorrhages. Lambs present at weaning were weighed and recorded. The conjugate and transverse diameters and area of the pelvic opening were measured on the pelvises of 47 MR and 37 CR ewes after slaughter in 1980 and 1981. The length of gestation was recorded for all ewes in 1980. Lamb survival was 8.5010 higher for lambs born to MR ewes and 5.5% higher for lambs sired by MR rams. The strain of ewe by strain of ram interaction was not significant and the improvement in lamb survival for MR ewes and rams occurred for both single-and twin-born lambs. The improved survival of lambs born to MR ewes was associated with a lower incidence of dystocia (2.3 v. 5.7%) and starvation (2.9 v. 5.1%).The main effect of MR rams was a lower incidence of parturient deaths (0.1 v. 1.0%). Overall incidence of cranial and spinal haemorrhages was 24% and 41 % respectively. Most of the cranial haemorrhages occurred in lambs dying from dystocia (41 %) and hypoxia (33 %) and most of the spinal haemorrhages were found in lambs dying from starvation (41 %) and dystocia (61 %). There was no effect of ewe or ram strain on the occurrence of central nervous system haemorrhages. The conceptus-free pre-lambing liveweight of MR ewes was 56.9 kg compared to 50.4 kg for CR ewes. Despite the large difference in liveweight between the two strains of ewes, the mean birth weight of the lambs was only 0.08 kg heavier for lambs born to MR ewes (4.64 kg) compared with CR ewes (4.56 kg). This small increase in birth weight of lambs born to MR ewes was accompanied by a 0.7 cm (1.9%) increase in chest circumference of the lambs. Lambs sired by MR rams were 0.1 kg lighter than lambs sired by CR rams (4.55 v. 4.65 kg). This was accompanied by a 0.09 cm (1.0%) narrower pelvic width for lambs sired by MR rams. T~ere were quadratic relationships between lamb survival and birth weight, chest circumference, and head circumference, and a linear relationship between lamb survival and pelvic width. MR ewes had pelvic openings with larger conjugate (10.9 v. 10.6 cm) and transverse (9.5 v. 9.0 cm) diameters than CR ewes. The area of the pelvic opening was 8.0;0 larger for MR than CR ewes (104.1 v. 95.3 cm ). There was evidence of improved maternal behaviour of MR ewes compared with CR ew...

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“…This study showed that lighter lambs had higher dystocia rates. Dystocia can be a consequence of lamb birth weight, sire breed, dam pelvic conformation (Fogarty and Thompson, 1974), malpresentation, maternal overfeeding, or prolonged parturition (Sargison, 1997;Everett-Hincks et al, 2007). In addition, lambs that endure difficult births have trouble maintaining body temperature and have inhibited behaviors in teat searching and suckling (Eales et al, 1982).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Management of maternal-offspring behavior to improve lamb survival in easy care sheep systems1,2

Everett-Hincks

Dodds

2008

Journal of Animal Science

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This paper examines the environmental and management factors affecting lamb survival on high-performing sheep farms in New Zealand. Improved lambing percentage is the biggest contributor to higher profits on New Zealand sheep farms. Many sheep breeders have selected and bred ewes for increased fecundity over the last 4 decades. The increased proportion of ewes having triplets is of concern to farmers and to industry because neonatal lamb mortality is highest in triplets. The majority of lamb deaths occur in the first 3 d after birth and range from 5 to 30% for individual sheep flocks. The ability of a lamb to survive to weaning is determined by genetics, behavior, physiology, and the environment, including on-farm management practices. We investigated the effects of dam body condition in pregnancy, weather during lambing, lamb birth weight, and maternal behavior on single, twin, and triplet lamb viability at birth, lamb death risks from dystocia, and starvation exposure and survival through to weaning for 20 industry flocks from 2003 to 2004 (15,821 lambs). Ewes with higher body condition scores in mid pregnancy had heavier lambs at birth (P < 0.01). Lambs weighing 5.5 to 6 kg at birth (P < 0.01) were more likely to be viable at birth and survive to weaning than heavier or lighter lambs. Weather conditions during late pregnancy (P < 0.05) proved more important than conditions during lambing (P < 0.05) in determining lamb viability and survival through to weaning. Older ewes and ewes with triplets require considerably more attention for farmers to realize their production potential. This information can help formulate appropriate management programs to improve lamb survival rates under easy care farming systems.

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Relationship Between Pelvic Dimensions, Other Body Measurements and Dystocia in Dorset Horn Ewes

Cited by 17 publications

References 9 publications

Parturition difficulties in sheep

Parturition difficulties in sheep

Identification of factors contributing to the improved lamb survival in Marshall Romney sheep

Management of maternal-offspring behavior to improve lamb survival in easy care sheep systems1,2

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