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Factors affecting reproductive performance in dromedary camel herds in Saudi Arabia

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A Correction to this article was published on 10 July 2019

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Abstract

A survey of 7122 dromedary camels in 115 herds in Saudi Arabia was used to estimate the effects of herd size (HZ; < 25 vs. 25–49 vs. 50–100 vs. > 100 camels), herder/camels ratio (H/C; 1:< 25 vs. 1:25–50 vs. 1:> 50), manager experience (ME; < 5 vs. 5–10 vs. > 10 years), male/females ratio (M/F), housing system (HS; free vs. closed vs. mixed), length of the breeding season (winter vs. winter and spring vs. fall, winter and spring), age at first mating (3 vs. > 3 years), and time of mating after parturition (≤ 3 vs. > 3 months) and their interactions on the overall pregnancy rate. Barren females of these herds (n = 886) were examined for the causes of infertility. Results showed that herds with H/C of 1:< 25 had higher overall pregnancy rate (95.29%) than herds with H/C of 1:25–50 (79.84%) and those with H/C of 1:> 50 (72.79%) (p = 0.003). Herds having ME of > 10 years revealed greater overall pregnancy rate (94.89%) than herds with ME of 5–10 years (80.54%) and those with ME of < 5 years (72.5%) (p = 0.001). There were significant interactions between H/C × HZ (p = 0.003), H/C × HS (p = 0.006), and ME × HS (p = 0.02). The overall pregnancy rate did not significantly differ between herds bred females by age of 3 years and those bred females by age > 3 years and in females bred within 3 months after parturition and in those bred after 3 months. The mean calving interval was shorter (p = 0.008) in camels mated within 3 months of parturition (15.25 ± 2.8 months) than in those mated after that time (24.33 ± 6.5 months). Clinical endometritis, ovarian hydrobursitis, and vaginal adhesions were the common clinical findings in barren females. Thus, efforts to reduce the age at first mating and the interval after calving, increase the number of herders/camels, and control reproductive disorders could improve the reproductive performance and quality of camel herds in Saudi Arabia.

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Change history

  • 10 July 2019

    This article was originally published with incorrect affiliation 1. The correction affiliation is presented below.

  • 10 July 2019

    This article was originally published with incorrect affiliation 1. The correction affiliation is presented below.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Buraydah, Qassim, 51452, Saudi Arabia

    Ahmed Ali, Derar Derar, Abdulhadi Alsharari, Assaf Alsharari, Rashid Khalil, Tariq I. Almundarij, Yaser Alboti & Fahd Al-Sobayil

  2. Department of Theriogenology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, 71526, Egypt

    Ahmed Ali & Derar Derar

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  1. Ahmed Ali
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  2. Derar Derar
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  3. Abdulhadi Alsharari
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  4. Assaf Alsharari
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  6. Tariq I. Almundarij
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  7. Yaser Alboti
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  8. Fahd Al-Sobayil
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Correspondence to Ahmed Ali.

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This study was approved by the Animal Care and Welfare Committee, Deanship of Scientific Research, Qassim University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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Ali, A., Derar, D., Alsharari, A. et al. Factors affecting reproductive performance in dromedary camel herds in Saudi Arabia. Trop Anim Health Prod 50, 1155–1160 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-018-1545-3

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