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Rams’ reproductive status during a controlled breeding period: effect of social dominance

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare the variation in body weight, scrotal circumference (SC), and seminal quality during a breeding period in dominant and subordinate rams. Data were collected from 12 dyads of rams, each bred with 15 ewes for 7 weeks. Before joining, the dominance relationship between both rams from each dyad was determined. Body weight and SC were recorded weekly in the morning, and semen was collected by electroejaculation, determining the volume, sperm concentration, mass motility, and percentage of sperm with progressive motility. In addition, the total number of sperm and sperm with progressive motility ejaculated were calculated. Dominance had no direct effect or interaction with time on any of the variables analyzed. Body weight, seminal volume, sperm concentration, mass motility, percentage of sperm with progressive motility, and total ejaculated sperm varied with time (p < 0.05), and scrotal circumference and total ejaculated sperm with progressive motility tended to vary with time. In general, all indicators evaluated were affected in the first weeks, when most ewes were cycling, recovering as the breeding progressed. It was concluded that, at least under the conditions of this study, dominance position did not affect the profile of the reproductive variables evaluated, although all of them were affected during the breeding period.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author under reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the Rancho Mary farm for all the kindness provided and the Postgraduate Program of the UANL, which is part of the Doctorate Program in Animal Science. MB. Keyla Mauleón received a scholarship from CONACYT (Mexico).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Posgrado Conjunto Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia y Facultad de Agronomía, CP. 66050, General Escobedo, N.L., Mexico

    Keyla Mauleón & Fernando Sánchez-Dávila

  2. Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de La República, Ruta 8 Kilómetro 18, 13000, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Rodolfo Ungerfeld

Authors
  1. Keyla Mauleón
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  2. Fernando Sánchez-Dávila
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  3. Rodolfo Ungerfeld
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. KM: methodology, data collection, writing the original draft and editing. RU: posed initial questions, analyzed data, drafted-revised, formal analysis, edited and approved the final version. FS: posed initial questions, methodology, resources, revised, and approved the final version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rodolfo Ungerfeld.

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Approved by the Bioethics and Animal Welfare Committee, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León. Folio 068/2022, Dictamen 077/2022.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Mauleón, K., Sánchez-Dávila, F. & Ungerfeld, R. Rams’ reproductive status during a controlled breeding period: effect of social dominance. Trop Anim Health Prod 55, 164 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-023-03584-6

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