Recently Afshari et al. reported on the detection of a new infrared band which was assigned to the "long-anticipated polar isomer of the OCS dimer" [J. Chem. Phys. 126, 071102 (2007)]. The authors report here the microwave confirmation of their results. The lowest energy, nonpolar isomer of (OCS)2 has long been known from IR spectroscopy, while the polar form has only been deduced from qualitat...

The aim of this review is to discuss sensory recognition (olfaction, vision, vocalisation, hearing and direct contact) in relation to the ewe-lamb bond, and the relevance of this information for animal management, considering that sensory recognition between ewes and their offspring is a key element of lamb welfare. In some parental care strategies, parents promote recognition of their own youn...

BACKGROUND Housing sheep in insulated, warm buildings, which is common in Norway, involves high buildings costs, but has not been reported to improve health and performance. Few studies have dealt with the association between housing and management and reproductive performance.Data on housing and management during the indoor period from a questionnaire were merged with herd level data from the ...

I NCREASING the number of lambings per year offers an important potential in increasing the efficiency of the sheep industry. Much progress has been made in recent years in inducing pregnancy in the ewe during anestrus. In order to approach two lamb crops per year, either very early weaning will have to be practiced or fertility induced in lactating ewes. Two injections of PMS (pregnant mare se...

Calpastatin is an endogenous inhibitor of calpain (calcium-dependent cysteine protease). Calpastatin activityis highly related to the rate of protein turnover and rate of meat tenderization. In order to characterize thestructure of calpastatin in Iranian Afshari breed of sheep, intron 6 and partial exon 7 of the L domain wereamplified and sequenced. A fragment of approximately...

Booroola Merino, Border Leicester and Collinsville Merino rams were joined in three successive years to Collinsville ewes and ewe progeny from all three groups were subsequently joined with Dorset Horn rams at Leeton Agricultural Research Station. When data were analysed for performance at up to five joinings and lambings, there were significant differences among the ewe groups in ovulation rat...

The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that a combination of induced estrus (IE) and melatonin (MEL) would increase reproductive performance in breeds characterized by late maturity more than either IE or MEL alone. Spring-born Columbia (C; n = 161; 188 to 222 d range of age at breeding; 49 to 80 kg range of BW at breeding) and Targhee (T; n = 166; 183 to 210 d range of age at b...

Glucose turnover parameters were obtained in fed and fasted wethers, ewes and pregnant ewes in their 2nd and 3rd trimesters, using a jugular bolus injection of D-glucose-2-3H. Fasting significantly (P less than 0,05) reduced glucose turnover (c. 40%) in both the wether and the non-pregnant ewe. A somewhat larger difference (c. 54%) between the fed and fasted ewes was found in their 3rd trimeste...

Cumulative lifetime (five lamb crops) lamb production and wool production of 681 ewes were evaluated in this study. Lamb production and wool production from each ewe at the end of age 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 yr were added to the previous year's production and analyzed within age of ewe. If a ewe failed to lamb, died, or was culled, it received a zero for that year and subsequent years. Main effects i...