Abstract
Parturition in sheep has been found to be delayed on both endophyte (Neotyphodium lolu) infected ryegrass (Lolium perenne) pastures (Eerens et al., 1994) and endophyte (N. coenophialum) infected tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) pastures (Bond et al., 1988). In both cases endophyte infection had no impact on birth weights of lambs, which contrasts with observations on horses by Monroe et al. (1988). It was therefore proposed that gestation period in sheep was delayed rather than extended, a proposition which was tested in an experiment reported here.
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References
Bond, J., G.P. Lynch, D.J. Bolt, H.W. Hawk, C. Jackson, Jr., and R.J. Wall 1988. Reproductive performance and lamb weight gains for ewes grazing fungus-infected tall fescue. Nutrition Reports International 37: 1099–1115.
Eerens, J.P.J. 1996. The ryegrass endophyte in a cool-moist environment. Ph. D. thesis. Lincoln University. New Zealand. 191 pp.
Eerens, J.P.J., K.B. Miller, J.G.H. White, H.S. Easton, and R.J. Lucas 1994. Ryegrass endophyte and sheep reproduction. Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association 56: 255–258.
Monroe, J.L., D.L. Cross, L.W. Hudson, D.M. Hendricks, S.W. Kennedy, T.C. Jenkins, and W.C. Bridges, Jr. 1988. Effect of selenium and endophyte-contaminated fescue on performance and reproduction in mares. J. Equine Vet. Sci. 8: 148–153.
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© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Eerens, J.P.J., Miller, K.B., Easton, H.S., Lucas, R.J., White, J.G.H. (1997). Endophyte (Neotyphodium lolii) Effect on Parturition Date in Sheep. In: Bacon, C.W., Hill, N.S. (eds) Neotyphodium/Grass Interactions. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0271-9_65
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0271-9_65
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