Effect of Flushing Diet Containing Phytoestrogens of Soy Products on Off-Season Reproductive Performance of Afshari Ewes

High levels of isoflavones in the diet containing raw soy and its products can have adverse effects on the level of reproductive hormonal parameters and subsequent, abnormal fertility in livestock. Therefore, in this study, an 8-week period (3 weeks before to 5 weeks after inoculation) was selected to evaluate these phytoestrogenic compounds on off-season reproductive performance of Afshari ewes.

60 Afshari sheep of 3 to 4 years old with an average weight of 60 3 3 kg and a body score of 2.5 to 3 in the form of three treatments of 20 heads including 1 or control (containing cottonseed meal), 2 and 3 respectively Soybean meal and extruded whole soybeans were selected in a completely randomized design for the study. Blood sampling was performed in three steps (before and after cider sampling and 12 days after inoculation), through the venous vein and before morning feeding.

The results of mean fertility and regeneration rates were not significantly different between experimental treatments. However, the fertility rate between treatment 2 (90%) and 3 (60%) tended to be significant (p = 0.0396). The frequency of sex of lambs was significantly different between treatments, so that the frequency of male lambs in treatments 1, 2 and 3 were 70.6, 66.6 and 33.3%, respectively (p = 0.0374). The highest nutrient content in the treatment contained extruded whole soybean with 66.7% and the lowest was related to the control treatment with 29.4%. The sex hormones estrogen and progesterone as well as blood insulin were not significantly different between the experimental treatments. Blood cholesterol concentration was significantly different between control treatment and treatment 2 compared to treatment 3 in the period one day before cider removal (p = 0.0279) and 2 days after (p = 0.082). The highest amount of cholesterol was in the treatment containing extruded soybeans in the first blood sampling step (80.730 and 79.470 mg / dl) and the lowest was in the treatment containing soybean meal (70.08 and 70.84 mg / dl).

The results of the present study showed that experimental treatments had no significant effect on reproductive parameters in Afshari ewes. Due to the effects of long-term presence of phytoestrogens of soy products on Ewes reproductive parameters, in a short period of flushing and at this level of replacement, no significant reduction was observed compared to the control treatment. Final analysis of the data showed that due to the interference of the effects of plant phytoestrogens, fatty acids and other factors affecting the reproduction of ewes, to obtain better results and limit the effect of parallel factors, the use of phytoestrogens extracted from soy, can provide a more reliable answer.