Plasma hormone profliles and fertility in ewe lambs given progestagen supplementation after mating

Clun Forest ewe lambs (n = 124) were used to investigate the effects of post-mating progestagen supplementation on fertility. The animals were assigned to 1 of 3 three treatments: Group A (n = 41) served as the controls, Group B (n = 42) received 3 weekly injections of 6 mg of medroxyprogesterone acetate (MAP), while Group C (n = 41) was treated with intravaginal sponge containing 60 mg of MAP; all treatments were administered from Day 5 to Day 26 post mating. Supplementation did not increase the percentage of animals pregnant or those lambing: Group A, 72.2 and 66.6%; Group B, 57.5 and 50.0%; and Group C, 67.5 and 60.0%, respectively. Furthermore, there was no effect of supplementation on plasma progesterone, prolactin, cortisol, growth hormone, insulin, or glucose concentrations (P>0.05). However, pre- and post- mating hormone profiles differed significantly between the animals that lambed or aborted and the animals which were found to be barren at lambing. In the barren animals, progesterone concentrations were lower 4 days before and 9 to 33 days after mating (P<0.01), while overall prolactin concentrations were higher throughout the trial (P<0.01). But there was no difference between barren and fertile lambs in cortisol, growth hormone, insulin or glucose concentrations (P>0.05). These results indicate that progestagen supplementation does not increase the reproductive performance of ewe lambs. However, infertility is associated with reduced luteal function and increased prolactin concentration before and after mating.