Prenatal development of ovine fetus

Abstract

From 39 gravid ovine genitalia in various stages of gestation, collected from a local slaughter house in Srinagar city, 37 and 4 fetuses were obtained from single and twin pregnancies, respectively. The genitalia collected were divided into four stages of gestation as: Stage- I (30–60 days); Stage-II (61–90 days); Stage-III (91–120 days); and Stage-IV (120 days to term). Various measurements of gravid genitalia, like diameter of pregnant horn, size of ovaries, consistency of corpus luteum, volume of fetal fluids, diameter of largest cotyledon, crown anus length and length of long bones were recorded. The largest diameter of pregnant horn averaged 8.1±1.2, 13.9±0.09, 17.8±0.04 and 23.2±0.06 cm at stages-I, II, III and IV, respectively. The length of ovaries recorded was 1.4±0.03, 1.7±0.06, 1.6±0.06 and 2.0±0.2 cm at the four stages of gestation, respectively. The breadth of ovaries varied from 1.0±0.03, 1.2±0.03, 1.2±0.05 and 1.5±0.02 cm at the four stages of gestation, respectively. The thickness of ovaries at the four stages of gestation were 0.7±0.02, 0.8±0.03, 0.8±0.03 and 0.9±0.06 cm, respectively. The volume of fetal fluids at the four stages of gestation recorded was 64±15, 256±34, 287±25 and 502±29 ml in allantoic fluid and 22±6, 128±50, 304±22 and 353±51 ml in amniotic fluid, respectively. The mean crown anus length observed with advancing stages of gestation was 6.7±0.9, 10.1±1.3, 31.5±0.09 and 46±1.2 cm, respectively. The mean observed length of Radium from Stage-I to Stage-IV were 1.6±0.6, 2.6±0.03, 5.5±0.2 and 8.9±0.03 cm, respectively, while that of Tibia was 2.1±0.1, 3.4±0.4, 7.3±0.3 and 12±0.3 cm, respectively.