The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) injection around mating on skewing lamb sex ratio in ewes. Thirty cycling multiparous Kurdish × Romanov ewes were divided into two groups (15 per group) based on age and body weight (BW). Animals were received either 20 mL of solution (CaMg) or 20 mL of sterile water (Control) subcutaneously every 7 days from 28 days pre- to 7 days post-mating. Each mL of CaMg solution contained 400 mg of Ca borogluconate and 22 mg of Mg hypophosphate, which provided 30.4 mg of Ca and 2.04 mg of Mg. Ewes in CaMg group tended to had lower body condition score (BCD) at the day of controlled internal drug release (CIDR) removal (2.79 vs. 2.69; P=0.09) and its change from beginning of experiment to CIDR removal (0.21 vs. 0.04; P=0.06) than control group. The CaMg injection increased plasma insulin (13.2 vs. 11.33 μIU/mL), Ca (9.13 vs. 8.30 mg/dL), Mg (3.66 vs. 3.33 mg/dL), Na (188.83 vs. 175.73 mEq/L) and glucose (56.94 vs. 50.07) concentrations at the day of CIDR removal and Ca (8.87 vs. 8.03 mg/dL) at the day of estrous and mating compared to control group (P<0.05). Lower estradiol (E2) + testosterone to progesterone (P4) ratio at the day of estrous and mating (102.87 vs. 135.67) was observed in ewes received CaMg injection compared to other group (P<0.05). Injection of CaMg solution had no significant effect on lamb sex ratio (P>0.05), although proportion of female lambs (68.18 vs. 56.52%) was numerically higher in ewes of the CaMg group than control group. These results indicated that there was a potential for skewing the sex ratio of lambs toward females when CaMg solution was injected subcutaneously during mating. تفاصيل المقالة

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of injection of vitamin E and selenium, vitamin B12 and iron or their combination during the transition period on milk production and composition, body condition score (BCS) changes and serum metabolites of dairy cows. A total of 40 Holstein dairy cows (659±57.9 kg of body weight (BW)) were divided into four groups based on parity, BW and BCS and randomly assigned to experimental treatments. Experimental treatments were T1: injection of NaCl % 0.9 as control treatment (C), T2: injection of 3000 IU of vitamin E and 30 mg of selenium (ESe), T3: injection of 700 μg of vitamin B12 and 254 mg of iron (B12Fe) and T4: injection of 3000 IU of vitamin E and 30 mg of selenium plus 700 μg of vitamin B12 and 254 mg of iron (ESe+B12Fe). Injection of ESe, B12Fe or ESe + B12Fe had no effect on BCS and its changes (P>0.05). Milk production, 4% fat-corrected milk (FCM), energy-corrected milk (ECM) and milk fat, protein and lactose content and yield did not influence by injection of ESe, B12Fe or ESe + B12Fe (P>0.05). Experimental treatments had no effect on serum β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), glucose, total protein, triglycerides, total cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol concentrations (P>0.05). It was concluded that injection of ESe, B12Fe or their combination during transition period had no effect on milk production and composition, BCS changes, and serum metabolites concentrations of Holstein dairy cows. تفاصيل المقالة

The effects of vitamin B12 (B12) and phosphorus (P) around mating on reproductive performance of ewes have not been investigated previously. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of injection of a solution (Catosin 10%) contained B12 and P on metabolic status and different aspects of reproductive per-formance of ewes. A total of sixty multiparous Afshari ewes were divided into two groups (n=30 ewes/group) based on age, body condition score (BCS) and body weight (BW). Animals were received either 5 mL of Catosin (B12+P) or 5 mL of sterile water (Control) subcutaneously every 7 days during 28 days before mating and until 7 days after mating. Each mL of Catosin contained 0.05 mg of cyanocobala-min and 100 mg of butaphosphan, which provided 17.3 mg of P in the form of [1-(butylamino)-1-methylethyl]-phosphonic acid. Two weeks after the start of the experiment, the estrus cycles of all ewes were synchronized using intravaginal 12-day CIDRs. Ewes receiving B12 + P had higher BW and BCS at day of CIDR removal and BCS at day 30 after mating (P0.05), whereas, ewes receiving B12+P had higher plasma concentration of B12 at the day of CIDR removal and the day of estrus and mating (P<0.05). The results suggest that B12 + P injection around mating may be an effective strategy for improving repro-ductive performance of ewe. However, further researches need to re-evaluate and confirm these findings. تفاصيل المقالة