Objective: To study microscopic structure of renal artery and measurement of histomorphometrical parameters before birth.Design: Observational study.Animals: Twelve embryonic artery of both sexes at 3 and 4 months age.Procedure: Samples of arteries were taken and fixed in 10% formalin. The process was done in autotechnicon. Sections of 6 micron were stained by H&E and green mason trichrom and studied under light microscope.Statistical analysis: Descriptive statistics.Results: All 3 layers of the wall of vessels were well developed in both sexes and ages of renal artery. In both ages, histomorphometrical studies showed that total diameter of renal artery in males was lesser than the females. Increase in age increased thickness of wall and diameter of lumen. While there were not significant difference between sexes, the measured parameters of renal artery showed significant difference between age groups.Conclusion: Histomorphological structures of embryonic renal artery in sheep showed 3 vascular layers. Internal elastic membrane was clearly and external elastic membrane was poorly observed and in some regions was interrupted. The recent layer will completely develop after birth by development of blood circulation. Increase in the age increase percentage of tunica media. On the other hand, percentage of other layers showed partially decrease.

Objective: Isolation and characterization of bacterial agents of abortion in EWES of Shiraz area.Design: Cross sectional study.Samples: One hundred and ninety eight aborted fetuses of Shiraz area were examined under bacteriological study.Procedure: Fetal stomach contents and/or liver and lung of aborted fetuses were collected for bacteriological tests.Results: Ninety one (46%) out of 107 (54%) bacterial isolates showed negative results. Brucella, Salmonella, Campylobacter and E.coli were the most dominant isolates.Conclusion: Despite the success of the prevention and control program, abortion causes economic losses in the sheep industry. In this regard, brucella and salmonella are the most infective agents.

Abortion is considered as an important factor for economic losses in flocks of sheep and goats, cause by many different infectious agents. The most common cause of infectious abortion in domestic animals are bacteria. In this cross sectional study, the prevalence of bacterial agents in 226 cases of abortion in sheep and goats in the Hamedan province were studied. Bacterial agent were isolated as from 61 sample (26.99%), including 12 sample brucella (5.3%), 1 sample campylobacter (0.44%), 37 sample E.coli (16.93%) and 11 sample other bacteria (4.87%). According to the results, bacterial agents with focus an brucella, have low role of abortion in the examinated cases. So, evaluation of viral and parasitic agents of abortionin sheep and goat (for example blue tongue disease &Toxoplasmosis) is necessary for determining their role in this issue. On the other hand, managment control of abortion is an important step in reducing the cases.

Pregnancy toxemia (PT), also known as ketosis or twin lamb disease, is a group of in-sequence metabolic disorders usually observed in the last pregnancy period of EWES. Blood samples from 60 Awassi EWES were collected, including 50 EWES suffering from PT and 10 healthy EWES (2-8 years old) as a control group. All of them were in their final month of pregnancy from different regions of Salah Aldin Governorate, Iraq. The samples were collected between October 2021 and February 2022. Biochemical analysis of serum concentrations of all parameters was performed using the atomic absorption spectrophotometer, except for the beta-hydroxybutyrate and non-esterified fatty acids that were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. The results of the clinical criteria tests for temperature, respiration, and pulse showed nonsignificant differences (P<0.05) in the infected animals, compared to the healthy group. Clinical signs included depression, loss of appetite, weight loss, lying down, odor of ketogenic bodies through breathing, inability to walk, neurological signs, dental grinding, jaundice, blindness, bloat, dystocia, animal death, and fetal death. Based on the results of the biochemical parameters tests of the blood, a significant increase (P<0. 05) was observed in the parameters of the results of beta-hydroxybutyrate, non-esterified fatty acids, triglycerides, total bilirubin, and liver enzymes (ALT, AST, ALP, and GGT) in the animals affected by PT, compared to the control group. However, a significant decrease (P<0.05) was observed in the parameters of glucose, cholesterol, total protein, albumin, and globulin in the affected animals, compared to the healthy group. Concerning the association between disease and oxidative stress criteria, the infected animals showed a substantial (P<0.05) increase in malondialdehyde concentration and a significant (P<0.05) drop in glutathione and superoxide dismutase levels.

Monthly comparison of milk urea concentration and their interrelationships were studied in 220 goats and 136 EWES in 2005-6 in Urmia. The amount of 50 ml milk was prepared monthly up to 5 months. Milk urea concentration was evaluated by Bertholet method using urea kit (Ziest-Chinii, Iran) in spectrophotometer. Mean for goat's milk urea concentration (GMU) from one to 5 months and overall were 35.2, 30.9, 19.7,27, 35.1, 28.6 and for EWES milk urea (EMU) were 21.7, 41.9, 41.2, 36.9, 50.2, 36.7 mg/dl, respectively. GMU concentration decreased irregularly while EMU increased regularly during the lactation. The range for the whole period of lactation for GMU and EMU were from 7.74 to 72.7 and 11.9 to 89.1 mg/dl, respectively. Mean comparison of the GMU and EMU showed differences (P<0.0l) among lactation months. Mean GMU at 3 months and EME at first month were different from other months of lactation. There was no correlation among lactation months in GMU and EMU, but correlation was found between GMU at 2 and 4 months of lactation (r=0.40, P<0.01) It is concluded that milk urea concentrations in goats and EWES were different during the lactation months but they were at the recommended level in bibliography. The presence of differences between GMU and EMU during the lactating months was the reflection of the metabolism and physiological procedures, but the differences were statistical and not biological values. Urea was confirmed in milk goats and EWES and the concentration in ewe’s milk was greater than in goat’s milk that requires further study in relation to economic and hygiene importance. The lack of correlations between parameters under study shows their non-independent characteristic in source of their production.

This study deals with effects of supplementary feeding on fertility performance of Farahani EWES. The study was conducted using three local flocks in Arak city, Iran. Half EWES in each flock (50 EWES from each flock) were used as control group and fed according to traditional method without supplementary feed. The other half per flock was fed on supplementary feed throughout the experiment that included three stages of breeding, late Pregnancy, and lactation. Weight and body condition score was measured in all EWES before supplementary feeding at breeding and at the end of the experiment. Average weight and body condition score at the measuring period were 39.4±1.3 kg and 2.09±0.26 for the control group; and 42.34±1.26 kg and 2.56±0.34 for the experimental group, respectively. The difference between two groups was significant (P<0.01). Implementation of supplementary feeding had significant effect on the birth and weaning weights of lambs. Average birth weight of lambs in control and experimental groups was 3.38±0.14 and 4.09±0.14 kg, respectively. Lambs weights at one, two and three months of ages for the control group were 9.16±1.4, 12.99±2.03 and 22.65±2.3 kg and for the experimental group were 11.23±1.4, 16.55±2.03 and 27.21±2.3 kg, respectively (significant difference (P<0.01)). Pregnancy rates for the control and experimental group were 85.29% and 94.4%, respectively (P<0.01) and lamb mortality rates were 10.34% and 3.48%, respectively (P<0.01). These findings showed that supplementary feeding improved fertility and lambing performance. Moreover, the birth weight and weaning weight of lambs showed significant improvement as well. The overall, increasing of lambing EWES (of about 14 percent) and increase in lamb birth and weaning weights were the obtained economic benefit from this research.