Naqvi et al. Developmental competence, birth and survival of lambs following transfer of twin or triple embryos of dwarf size prolific donor into large size non-prolific recipient sheep.J.Cell Anim.Biol.

Developmental competence, birth and survival of lambs following transfer of twin or triple embryos of dwarf size prolific donor into large size non-prolific recipient sheep

S. M. K. Naqvi¹, A. Joshi1, D. Kumar¹, R. Gulyani¹, V. P Maurya¹, S. Saha¹,J. P. Mittal¹and V. K. Singh²

¹Embryo Transfer Technology Laboratory, Division of Animal Physiology and Biochemistry,
Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute, Avikanagar, (Via –Jaipur), Rajasthan-304501, India.
²Division of Animal Genetics and Breeding, Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute, Avikanagar (Via-Jaipur) Rajasthan 304501, India.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: naqvismk@yahoo.co.in

Accepted 8 October, 2007

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to assess the embryo survival and development of progeny following transfer of either 2 or 3 embryos derived from dwarf size prolific Garole sheep into non-prolific large size Awassi x Malpura crossbred recipient ewes. Embryos were collected from donor ewes following induction of superovulation using FSH (5.4 mg Ovagen) and PMSG (200 IU) regimen. Estrus was synchronized in donor and recipient ewes by administering two injections of prostaglandin F₂ a. The recipient ewes were divided into two groups and each recipient ewe received either 2 (Group 1) or 3 embryos (Group 2) of transferable quality in the uterine horn ipsilateral to corpus luteum. The recipient ewes of both the groups were examined for the presence of fetuses at 40 days of gestation by ultrasonography. The pregnancy and lambing percentages of ewes belonging to Group 2 were 57%, which was comparatively higher than Group 1 ewes where it was 42.9%. The survival of embryos was 38.1% in Group 2 and was higher compared to Group 1 (28.6%). The survival of lambs at weaning was higher in Group 1, compared to Group 2. The results indicate that survival of embryos and pregnancy rate was better following transfer of 3 than 2 embryos of prolific sheep to non-prolific sheep.

Key words: Microsheep, garole, embryo transfer, embryo survival, multiple births.

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