Abstract
We tested whether utilising the male effect to stimulate ewes before the mating period can reduce the time to conception following the introduction of entire rams, and increase fertility, prolificacy, and reproductive rate (number of fetuses per 100 ewes exposed to fertile rams). A retrospective analysis was used to analyse records from 59,716 ewes collected over 34 years (1986-2020) from seven genotypes: Border Leicester, Composite (crossbred), Dorset, Merino, Dorset x Polypay, Rambouillet, White Suffolk. The dataset also included nulliparous young ewes (mated at age 8 months) and adult parous ewes. Vasectomized rams were used to stimulate 20,632 ewes before a mating period that lasted 2 or 3 estrous cycles, and the outcomes were compared with those from 39,084 ewes that had not been stimulated. Independently of genotype, utilising the male stimulus advanced the average conception date by 8 days for young ewes (P < 0.0001) and by 1 day for adult ewes (P < 0.0001). The male stimulus also increased the proportion of ewes that conceived in their first cycle by 33 % for young ewes and by 6 % for adult ewes (P < 0.0001). For the cycle of conception, there were significant (P < 0.0001) effects of two interactions: male stimulus x age at mating and male stimulus x live weight at mating. The male stimulus improved fertility in both adult ewes (99.8 % vs 89 %; P < 0.001) and young ewes (77.7 % vs 81.3 %; P < 0.001). The male stimulus increased the number of young ewes (41.9 % vs 11.1 %; P < 0.001) and adult ewes (16.6 % vs 2.7 %; P < 0.001) that conceived multiple fetuses in the first 17 days of the mating period. The reproductive rate was improved by the male stimulus in young ewes (129 % vs 135 %; P < 0.001) but not in adult ewes (120 % vs 122 %; P = 0.12). When all animals for all breeds were included in the analyses, there were improvements in fertility, prolificacy, and reproductive rate as age and live weight increased at mating (P < 0.0001). We conclude that, independently of genotype, utilising the male stimulus before the mating period reduces the time to conception and improves reproductive performance in both young and adult ewes.
