Abstract
Several goat breeds from subtropical latitudes display seasonal variations of their sexual activity, which induce a seasonality of milk and meat productions. In females, the seasonal anestrous occurs during spring and summer, whereas in males, the sexual rest occurs during winter and spring. This seasonality is mainly controlled by the annual photoperiodic variations but the socio-sexual relationships can dramatically modify it. Indeed, the permanent presence of bucks rendered sexually active by appropriate photoperiodic treatments allows goats to ovulate all the year round. In addition, the sudden introduction of these photostimulated bucks into a group of seasonal anovulatory goats dramatically improves the occurrence of induced ovulations within the first 5 days after the contact between both genders. In subtropical latitudes, the combination of photoperiod and socio-sexual relationships is an original, cheap, and sustainable way to control the out-of-season sexual activity in goats, and therefore, the milk and meat productions.
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Acknowledgements
We thank all members of the Centro de Investigación en Reproducción Caprina (CIRCA, Mexico ) and the Unit of Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements (INRA, France) for their kind participation in the experiments described in this chapter.
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Delgadillo, J.A., Chemineau, P., Keller, M. (2017). Using Socio-Sexual Stimulations for Sustainable Goat Production Under Subtropical Latitudes. In: Simões, J., Gutiérrez, C. (eds) Sustainable Goat Production in Adverse Environments: Volume I. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71855-2_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71855-2_6
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