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Body condiction score and age of ewes at mating time and pregnacy

In this study, the relationship between score of body condition (BC) at the beginning of mating and ewes age with the pregnancy rate (PR) of a Corriedale sheep flock, grazed in the State of Rio Grande do Sul- Brazil are presented and discussed. The BC and PR observed on the flock were 90.4% and 2.84(±0.57) respectively. The mean of BC of the pregnant (P) and non-pregnant (NP) ewes was P 2.86 (±0.56) and NP 2.64(±0.59). The values of P and NP have shown statistic significance (P< 0.001). The results showed, also, that the PR increase as the BC increases, reaching 92 and 98% on the group of ewes with BC 3.0 and 4.0 respectively. Finally, the regression logistic analysis from the data showed that the age of the ewes have no relation with the PR and a positive relationship between pregnancy and body score condition ( p=0.002).

sheep body condition score; age; pregnancy rate


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