Naslov
Recovery of cyclicity postpartum and pregnancy length in Istrian jennies, an endangered Croatian donkey breed

Autori
Prvanović Babić, Nikica ; Maćešić, Nino ; Bačić, Goran ; Karadjole, Tugomir ; Brkljača-Bottegaro, Nika ; Efendić, Maša ; Karadjole, Martina ; Samardžija, Marko

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Izvornik
Proceedings of the 18th Annual Conference of the European Society for Domestic Animal Reproduction (ESDAR) / Rodriguez-Martinez, Heriberto, Katila Terttu - Helsinki : Wiley-Blackwell, 2014, 89-89

Skup
18th Annual Conference of the European Society for Domestic Animal Reproduction (ESDAR)

Mjesto i datum
Helsinki, Finska, 11.09.2014. - 13.09.2014

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Poster

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
reproductive performance; Istrian donkey; pregnancy rate; postpartum

Sažetak
The donkey reproductive physiology is still partially known despite the increasing risk of extinction involving several breeds. Majority of breeders and even veterinarians treat jennets as mares, but there are both anatomical and cyclical differences seen in jennets compared to mares. For the horse, the average length of gestation is 335–345 days while in donkeys it is 360–375 days or more. Normal donkey foals have reportedly been born at 10½ months up to 14 months of gestation. The estrous cycle of jennets ranges from 23–30 days, whereas the mare has a slightly shorter cycle of 21–25 days. Additionally, jennets usually have a heat period that averages six to nine days. The present study was designed to describe the postpartum (PP) reproductive performance of a Croatian endangered breed: the Istrian donkey. To this aim, 64 pluriparous jennies, kept in two simmilar, neighboring herds were monitored to define the foal-heat (FH) and the first and second PP estrus episodes (1st PPe and 2nd PPe). The data indicate that jennies spontaneously returned cyclicity in approximately 14 days after delivery. Then heats repeated with a regular interval of approximately 22 days. Estrus length was 1 week in FH and the 2nd PPe and significantly shorter in the 1st PPe. Pregnancy rate (PR) was lower when natural mating occurred during the FH and 2nd PPe (approximately 54%) than during the 1st PPe (approximately 70% ; p < 0.01). Estrus-ovulation, and delivery-ovulation interval and follicle growth were similar in all animals observed. In addition, the higher PR (>80% ; p < 0.01) was recorded in jennies when the FH occurred after the first week PP and it dropped (<40%) in early FH animals (FH<7 days). The PR was also affected by the season and by age: it significantly decreased during the autumn-winter season and in jennies older than the eighth year of age. For the first time, the reproductive performance of PP donkeys were defined on a large number of Istrian jennies thus offering useful information to improve farm management with an immediate benefit to increase livestock production, esspecially for dairy herds. This aspect of management improvement might be particularly important if applied to an endangered breed such as Istrian donkeys.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Veterinarska medicina

POVEZANOST RADA