Journal article
Immunisation against gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) reduces agonistic behaviours in male rangeland goats
Animal Production Science, Vol.56(11), pp.1882-1887
2016
Abstract
Rangeland goat bucks were used to evaluate the efficacy of a commercially available anti-gonadotrophin-releasing hormone vaccine, Improvac (Zoetis Australia, West Ryde, NSW, Australia). The hypothesis tested was that immunisation would suppress testosterone secretion by the testis and agonistic behaviour between male goats. We also compared intervals of 2 and 4 weeks between primary and booster immunisations and monitored responses over a 2-month period. The 45 goats were split into three groups (n = 15): one group receiving the vaccination booster on Day 14, one group receiving the vaccination booster on Day 28, and the Control group receiving sterile saline injections. Body mass, body condition score and scrotal circumference were measured fortnightly, and blood was collected at 2-week intervals and analysed for testosterone concentration. Behavioural interaction tests of 2-min duration were also conducted fortnightly. There was a significant decrease in paired testicular circumference (P < 0.05) and testosterone concentration (P < 0.01) in both vaccination groups by the end of the experiment at Day 60, compared with the Control group. Agonistic interactions measured at Day 60 were significantly reduced in both vaccination groups (P < 0.05) compared with the Control group. These results support the efficacy of Improvac in reducing agonistic behaviours in rangeland goat bucks and suggest that the use of the vaccine may assist in reducing social stress and possible injury in groups of confined male goats.
Details
- Title
- Immunisation against gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) reduces agonistic behaviours in male rangeland goats
- Authors/Creators
- C. Bishop (Author/Creator) - Murdoch UniversityP.A. Fleming (Author/Creator) - Murdoch UniversityA.L. Barnes (Author/Creator) - Murdoch UniversityT. Collins (Author/Creator) - Murdoch UniversityD.W. Miller (Author/Creator) - Murdoch University
- Publication Details
- Animal Production Science, Vol.56(11), pp.1882-1887
- Publisher
- CSIRO Publishing
- Identifiers
- 991005544020707891
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Veterinary and Life Sciences
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
Source: InCites
Metrics
231 File views/ downloads
74 Record Views
InCites Highlights
These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output
- Citation topics
- 1 Clinical & Life Sciences
- 1.164 Endocrinology & Metabolism
- 1.164.613 GnRH
- Web Of Science research areas
- Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
- ESI research areas
- Agricultural Sciences