Ilda G. Fernández

Male goat vocalizations stimulate the estrous behavior and LH secretion in anestrous goats that have been previously exposed to bucks.

We investigated whether live vocalizations emitted by bucks interacting with anestrous females stimulate secretion of LH, estrous behavior and ovulation in anestrous goats. In experiment 1, bucks rendered sexually active by exposure to long days followed by natural photoperiod were exposed in a light-proof-building to five anestrous females. Buck vocalizations were reproduced through a microphone-amplifier-loudspeaker system to an open pen where one group of goats (n=6) was exposed for 10 days to these live vocalizations. Another group of females (n=6) was isolated from males and vocalizations. The proportion of goats displaying estrous behavior was significantly higher in females exposed to buck vocalizations than in females isolated from males. The proportion of goats that ovulated did not differ between the 2 groups (exposed to males versus isolated). In experiment 2, female goats that either had previous contact with males (n=7), or no previous contact with males (n=7) were exposed to live buck vocalizations, reproduced as described in experiment 1, for 5 days. The number and amplitude of LH pulses did not differ between groups before exposition to buck vocalizations. Five days of exposure to male vocalizations significantly increased LH pulsatility only in females that had previous contact with males, while LH pulse amplitude was not modified. We concluded that live buck vocalizations can stimulate estrous behavior and LH secretion in goats if they have had previous contact with bucks.

Importance of intense male sexual behavior for inducing the preovulatory LH surge and ovulation in seasonally anovulatory female goats

The present study was carried out to determine whether the presence of photostimulated sedated male goats could stimulate the LH preovulatory surge and ovulation in seasonal anestrous goats. Sexually experienced male goats were treated with artificial long days (16 hours light per day) from 1 November to 15 January to stimulate their sexual activity in March and April, corresponding to the natural sexual rest. A female group of goats (n=20) was exposed to non-sedated males who displayed an intense sexual behavior and provided strong odor (non-sedated group). Another female group of goats (n=20) was exposed to the photo-stimulated male goats, but these males were sedated with Xylazine 2% to prevent the expression of sexual behavior (sedated group). The sedated males also provided a strong odor. Females of both groups had full physical and visual contact with non-sedated or sedated males. In both groups, the males remained with females during 4 days. The LH preovulatory surge of 10 female goats per group was measured by determination of LH plasma concentrations in samples taken every 3 hours. In addition, in all goats, (n=20 by group), ovulation was determined by measuring plasma concentrations of progesterone. The proportion of female goats showing a preovulatory LH surge was higher in goats exposed to non-sedated (10/10) than in those exposed to sedated bucks (0/10; P<0.0001). Similarly, most of does in contact with non-sedated males ovulated (19/20), but none of those in contact with sedated males did so (0/20; P<0.0001). We conclude that the expression of an intense sexual behavior by male goats is necessary to induce LH preovulatory surge and ovulation in seasonally anovulatory goats.

Sexually active bucks are able to stimulate three successive groups of females per day with a 4-hour period of contact

Bucks rendered sexually active by a photoperiod treatment of long days can induce fertile ovulation in a group of goats with only 4 h of contact daily with a male:female ratio of 1:10. Here we tested whether such bucks could induce fertile ovulations when stimulating successively three different groups of anovulatory goats when interacting 4 h per day during 15 consecutive days. Control males (n=3) were introduced in the control group (n=25) of does at 8:00 h and were removed at 12:00 h. Experimental males (n=3) were in contact with the experimental groups of does: from 8:00 h to 12:00 h with a first group (n=27), from 12:00 h to 16:00 h with a second group (n=26) and with a third one (n=27) from 16:00 h to 20:00 h. Bucks were then placed until next day in another pen. Both in the control and the experimental groups, more than 85% of females ovulated, and the proportions did not differ between the control and experimental groups (P≥0.67) or between the three experimental groups (P≥0.67). Moreover, the ovulation rate did not differ significantly between the control and the experimental females nor between the three experimental groups. Bucks were able to fertilize more than 72% of does independently of the number of females they were exposed to (P≥0.17). Finally, more than 58% of females kidded and fertility did not differ between the control and experimental groups (P=1) nor among experimental groups (P≥0.77). We conclude that sexually active bucks are able to induce fertile ovulation in three successive groups of anovulatory goats even when the period of contact between sexes is reduced to 4 h per day.

Lack of sexual experience does not reduce the responses of LH, estrus or fertility in anestrous goats exposed to sexually active males.

We investigated whether LH secretion, estrous behavior and fertility would differ between sexually inexperienced and experienced anestrous goats exposed to the males. Male goats were rendered sexually active during the reproductive rest season by exposure to 2.5 months of artificial long days. Two groups of anovulatory sexually inexperienced and sexually experienced does were exposed to males during 15 days (n = 20 per group). LH pulsatility was determined every 15 min from 4h before to 8h after introducing males (Day 0). Estrous behavior was recorded twice daily. Pregnancy rates were determined on Day 50. Fertility was determined at parturition. Male sexual behavior was registered on days 1 and 2 during 1h. Before introducing the males, the number of LH pulses did not differ between groups. After introduction of the males, all females increased their LH pulsatility, but the number of pulses did not differ between sexually inexperienced and experienced goats. The proportion of females displaying estrous behavior with a high pregnancy rate and fertility did not differ between inexperienced and experienced goats. The sexual behavior of the males did not differ significantly between those interacting with sexually inexperienced or experienced goats. We conclude that goats can show substantial endocrine and reproductive responses to males, even in the absence of previous sexual experience, when sexually active bucks are used.

Polymorphism of locus DRB3.2 in populations of Creole Cattle from Northern Mexico

The polymorphism of locus BoLA-DRB3.2 of the Major Histocompatibility Complex was evaluated in two northern Mexican Creole cattle populations, Chihuahua (n = 47) and Tamaulipas (n = 51). The BoLA-DRB3.2 locus was typed by amplification and digestion with restriction endonuclease enzymes (PCR-RFLP). Fifty-two alleles were detected (28 previously reported and 24 new ones). In the Chihuahua population, 18 alleles and 5.5 effective alleles were found, while in the Tamaulipas population there were 34 and 10.8, respectively. The allele frequencies ranged from 0.011 to 0.383 in Chihuahua and from 0.010 to 0.206 in Tamaulipas. The frequencies of the new alleles in both cattle populations were low (0.010 to 0.053). The expected heterozygosity was 0.827 and 0.916, respectively, for the Chihuahua and Tamaulipas populations. Both populations presented a heterozygote deficit: [Chihuahua FIS = 0.1 (p = 0.019) and Tamaulipas FIS = 0.317 (p < 0.001)]. In conclusion, this study showed that the Mexican Creole cattle have many low-frequency alleles, several of which are exclusive to these populations. Genetic distances obtained show that the Mexican Creole cattle population is composed of independent populations, far apart from other South American Creole populations.

Effects of exposure to artificial long days on milk yield, maternal insulin-like growth factor 1 levels and kid growth rate in subtropical goats.

This study was designed to determine whether any relationship exists between exposure to artificial long days, milk yield, maternal plasma insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels, and kid growth rate in goats. One group of lactating goats was maintained under naturally decreasing day length (control group; n = 19), while in another one, they were kept under artificial long days (LD group; n = 19). Milk yield was higher in goats from the LD group than that in the control group (P < 0.05). Maternal IGF-1 levels at day 57 of lactation were higher (P < 0.05) in goats from the LD group than the levels in the control group and were positively correlated with the total milk yields per goat at days 43 and 57 of lactation (r = 0.77 and r = 0.84, respectively; P < 0.01). Daily weight gain at week 4 was higher (P < 0.01) in kids from the LD group than that in kids from the control group and was correlated with total and average IGF-1 maternal levels (r = 0.60 and r = 0.60, P < 0.05). It was concluded that submitting lactating goats to artificial long days increases milk yield, plasma IGF-1 maternal levels and the growth rate of the kids.

Absence of previous sexual experience did not modify the response of anoestrous goats to photo-stimulated bucks in Spring

Abstract Sexually inexperienced rams display lower frequency of nudging, ano-genital sniffing, mounting attempts, and mounts with intromission than experienced ones. Experienced photo-stimulated males display high level of sexual behaviour. The aim of this study was to determine: i) whether sexually inexperienced photo-stimulated males display similar sexual behaviour as the experienced ones, and ii) whether these inexperienced bucks can stimulate sexual response in anoestrous goats, as the experienced ones. Sexually inexperienced and experienced photo-stimulated males (n = 5 each) were used. In April, two groups of anovulatory females (n = 50 each) were exposed to these males for 15 d. Male sexual behaviour was registered for three days, upon their introduction into female groups. On day 1, the inexperienced males displayed higher nudging than the experienced ones (p < .001), whereas on days 2 and 3, the experienced males displayed higher nudging than the inexperienced ones (p < .001). The ano-genital sniffing, mounting attempts, and mounts with intromission did not differ between the inexperienced and experienced groups (p > .05). The proportion of females ovulating did not differ between the two groups (≥82 %; p = 1.0). Pregnancy rate (≥68 %; p = .829) did not differ between the females exposed to inexperienced or experienced males. It is concluded that sexually inexperienced photo-stimulated males show similar sexual behaviour as the experienced ones, and they are able to induce sexual response in seasonally anoestrous goats through the male effect.

Two 250 mg doses of bovine somatotropin increase conception rate, IGF-I plasma concentration and reduce the days to estrus in Holstein cows following estrus synchronization.

Abstract Fernández, I.G., Salgado, R.H. and Vázquez, C.A.E. 2010. Two 250 mg doses of bovine somatotropin increase conception rate, IGF-I plasma concentration and reduce the days to estrus in Holstein cows following estrus synchronization. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 37: 101–104. To determine whether the administration of two low doses of recombinant bovine somatotropin (bST, 250 mg each) improves conception rate in Holstein cows when using a. protocol of estrus synchronization 266 multiparous, postpartum first service Holstein cows were used. Control cows (CON; n=158) were injected with placebo and bST cows (TRT; n=108) received two doses of 250 mg of bST on d 56 and 67±2 d (at the time of AI). Insulin-like growth factor-I plasma concentration was higher in TRT cows (d 58; P<0.01 and d 62; P<0.05) and conception rate was also higher in TRT cows (P<0.05). Days to estrus in TRT cows were shorter (62.2±0.8 vs 74.1±0.9; P<0.01). Milk production was higher in TRT cows (58 to 63 d; P<0.05). The results indicated beneficial effect of bST given in two divided doses in respect of conception rate, insulin-like growth factor-I plasma concentration and days to estrus in postpartum lactating dairy cows.