INFLUENCE OF SEASON ON SHEEP UTERINE MORPHOMETRY

Abstract

Domestic animals are of great importance for humans, due to various animal products that are irreplaceable in food and clothing. Owing to the development of the digestive organs and the richness in the microflora of the rumen, some types of domestic animals (ruminants) are able to refine and transform various types of plant nutrients and food by-products into high-value animal products, such as meat, milk and wool. Sheep breeding in our country is significantly less important than cattle breeding, meaning that the sheep production is not satisfactory. Numerous factors have caused such situation, and it is clear that more serious work must be done on the development of sheep breeding, since Bosnia and Herzegovina has extremely favorable conditions for raising sheep. Successful sheep production depends mostly on good reproduction, and reproduction depends primarily on the normal and proper development of sexual organs. Numerous factors influence development of sexual organs, including genetic (species and breed of domestic animals) and paragenetic, the most important of which are handling and care, nutrition, breeding season, etc. The influence of the annual breeding season on the establishment of sexual activity in domestic animals is well-known, and 
this is especially pronounced in sheep. The aim of this work was to determine whether the season influences development of the sexual organs of sheep. The research was conducted on uteri of sacrificed animals taken at the slaughterhouse. The following were examined and measured: 30 uteri of prepubertal sheep (15 in the autumn-winter season and 15 in the spring-summer season) and 30 ewes (15 in the autumn-winter season and 15 in the spring-summer season). The following morphometric parameters were measured: the mass of the uterus with ligaments, the mass of the preserved uterus, the mass of the ovaries, the length of uterine horns, the length and width of the uterus, the length of the fallopian tubes.The obtained results indicate that the examined season influences the dynamics of the development of sexual organs in sheep. This is especially pronounced in ewe and hoggs.