Preliminary results on the use of diagnostic ultrasonography as a management tool to quantify egg production potential in breeding ostrich (Struthio camelus australis) females
Journal of the South African Veterinary Association
| Field | Value | |
| Title | Preliminary results on the use of diagnostic ultrasonography as a management tool to quantify egg production potential in breeding ostrich (Struthio camelus australis) females | |
| Creator | Lambrechts, H. Cloete, S.W.P. Swart, D. Greyling, J.P.C. | |
| Description | An ostrich breeding flock, joined as individual breeding pairs (n = 136 pairs), was used to investigate the possibility of diagnostic ultrasonography as a method to predict the reproductive performance of ostrich females during a breeding season. Follicular activity was easily detected and quantified by using diagnostic ultrasonography. One to 8 follicles were recorded in 25 % of females scanned at the beginning of the 9-month breeding season. At the end of the breeding season, 1-3 follicles were observed in 28.7 % females. Females in which follicular activity was observed came into production earlier than those in which no follicles were observed, with the mean (±SE) number of days to the production of the 1st egg being 22.3 ± 12.5 and 87.4 ± 7.2 days, respectively. Females in which follicular activity was observed at the beginning of the breeding season, produced on average 181 % more eggs during the 1st month of the breeding season (P 0.01) than females in which no follicular activity was observed (6.67 ± 0.70 vs 2.37 ± 0.41 eggs). Egg production over the first 2 months of breeding and over the entire breeding season were similarly affected (P 0.01), with the mean number of eggs produced over the first 2 months of the breeding season being 14.7 ± 1.5 for females with observed follicular activity and 7.4 ± 0.9 eggs for females with no observed follicular activity. Females in which follicular activity was observed at the end of the breeding season produced on average 108 % more eggs (P0.01) during the last month of the breeding season than females in which no follicular activity was observed (2.77 ± 0.43 vs. 1.33 ± 0.27 eggs). There was a tendency (P = 0.06) for egg production over the last 2 months to be similarly affected (6.10 ± 0.85 vs 4.19 ± 0.54 eggs). No relationship with egg production over the entire breeding season was found for the end-of-the-breeding-season observations. Diagnostic ultrasonography can thus be used as a management tool to identify reproductively healthy ostrich females and also females with a higher egg production potential over a period of 2 months after or prior to assessment. Future studies should focus on the development of the technique to predict reproductive performance over entire breeding seasons for selection purposes. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS | |
| Date | 2002-07-06 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/jsava.v73i2.554 | |
| Source | Journal of the South African Veterinary Association; Vol 73, No 2 (2002); 48-52 2224-9435 1019-9128 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://jsava.co.za/index.php/jsava/article/view/554/530
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