Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to C Kimberling.
This article reviews current methods of evaluating reproductive performance in the sheep industry. The reproductive technologies of breeding soundness examination, reproductive ultrasonography, estrus manipulation, artificial insemination, and embryo transfer are also extensively discussed. The veterinarian's current and future role in the application of these technologies is discussed.
A diet consisting entirely of cull onions fed to pregnant ewes produced Heinz body hemolytic anemia in all sheep after 21 d. After 28 d of daily consumption of 20 kg of onions/ewe, the anemia stabilized, and for the remaining 74 d the packed cell volume increased in the majority of sheep, although it did not return to normal. Compared to control ewes fed an alfalfa and grain diet, the onion-fed ewes had comparable body condition scores and fleece weights. There was no significant difference (alpha = 0.05) in pregnancy or lambing rate, number of lambs born/ewe exposed, or number of lambs born/ewe lambing. Greater numbers of sulfate-reducing bacteria (Desulfovibrio spp) and more ruminal hydrogen sulfide were present in onion-fed sheep compared to controls. Although an average 27% reduction in packed cell volume and Heinz body anemia developed in the onion-fed ewes, on the basis of this study it appears that pregnant ewes may be fed a pure onion diet with minimal detrimental effects. This adaptation to a pure onion diet is in part likely due to the apparent ability of the sheep's rumen to quickly develop a population of sulfate-reducing bacteria that decrease the toxicity of onion disulfides.
Of 1,994 yearling and 2-year-old cattle in a winter feeding program, 117 died within 42 days of being fed toxic amounts of monensin sodium in a liquid protein supplement. Death losses commenced on the third day after ingestion of a toxic amount in the feed. Clinical signs in cattle that died in less than 9 days included anorexia, pica, diarrhea, depression, mild hindlimb ataxia, and dyspnea. Gross necropsy findings in cattle dying in the acute phase of the illness included hydrothorax, ascites, and pulmonary edema, as well as petechial hemorrhages, edema, and yellow streaking in skeletal and cardiac muscle. Cattle dying after 9 days had gray streaks in heart and skeletal muscle, generalized ventral edema, enlarged, firm, bluish discolored liver, and enlarged heart. Microscopic changes in cattle dying in the acute phase (less than 9 days) consisted of pulmonary edema, congestion, and hemorrhage. Cardiac and skeletal muscle had localized areas of edema, hemorrhage, and coagulative necrosis. In cattle dying after 9 days of illness, the changes included lymphocytic infiltration, sarcolemmal nuclear proliferation, and fibrosis in skeletal and cardiac muscle. Lungs contained increased alveolar macrophages and a few neutrophils. Centrilobular necrosis and mild fibrosis were found in the liver. Changes varied somewhat according to the area of heart or skeletal muscle that was affected. Active muscles, eg, those in the heart ventricles and diaphragm, were altered most severely. Intoxication appeared to be a result of sedimentation of monensin in the molasses carrier to give remarkable concentrations of the substance at the bottom of the holding tank.