The induction of ovulation in anovulatory goats by oestrous females

Oestrous female Australian cashmere goats were shown to induce ovulation in seasonally anovulatory counterparts. Sixty anovulatory does were exposed to either ovariectomised (OVX) does or oestrogen treated OVX does in isolated groups of ten, with three replicates for each treatment. Ovaries were examined by laparoscopy 5 and 10 days after exposure to the OVX does. Following exposure to untreated OVX does, three of 30 does ovulated within 5 days, one of which re-ovulated before Day 10; one other doe ovulated once 6–10 days after exposure. In contrast, 23 of 30 does exposed to OVX does in induced oestrus ovulated within 5 days of exposure, with 12 re-ovulating before Day 10, the balance lapsing into anovulation. Two other does in this group ovulated once 6–10 days after exposure. The ovulation rate in the does exposed to oestrous OVX does was significantly higher than in the control does that ovulated. The experiment unequivocally shows that oestrous females can induce ovulation in anovulatory does.