Reproductive Management

Reproductive performance depends on a well-designed herd health and preventive program, as well as adequate preparation of males and females. Each activity during the breeding season requires careful planning. This chapter describes general requirements for biosecurity, vaccination programs, parasite control, and nutrition before the breeding season, during pregnancy, and at parturition. Body condition scoring is an important tool for monitoring the nutritional status of animals. Preparation of the animals depends on whether breeding will take place in season or out of season. A calendar of action for each breeding system, along with recommendations on the use of males, is proposed. Accelerated lambing systems (three lambings in 2 years, Cornell STAR) are described and can be used for high-end sheep production systems. Pregnancy diagnosis is a crucial step in managing herds or flocks. The sensitivity and specificity of clinical and biochemical methods are discussed. The use of ultrasonography for pregnancy diagnosis, fetal numbering, estimation of gestational age, and fetal sexing is described in detail and illustrated. Care of the pregnant female and strategies for the management of parturition are presented. Finally, reproductive benchmarks—cyclicity rate, pregnancy rate, parturition rate and distribution, prolificacy, and abortion rate—are discussed.