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NUMBER OF OOCYTES PRESENT AT BIRTH IN THE OVARIES OF PURE AND FINNISH LANDRACE CROSS BLACKFACE AND WELSH SHEEP

Summary.: Pure-bred Blackface and Welsh sheep were found to have significantly more oocytes at birth (20 and 16 x 10⁴ respectively) than had their Finnish Landrace (Finn) crosses (11 and 15 x 10⁴ respectively). The proportion of oocytes in large follicles with an antrum was, however, significantly greater in Finn cross than in the pure-bred animals (0·58 and 0·18% respectively).

As both pure and cross-bred offspring had pure-bred mothers, it was concluded that the higher proportion of developing oocytes in the Finn crosses was due to an increased level of foetal follicular sensitivity or stimulation rather than maternal gonadotrophic activity.