Effect of bovine somatotropin administration during the last trimester of gestation on maternal growth, and foetal and placental development in primigravid ewes

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Abstract
Twenty-five primigravid ewes were used in a preliminary study to investigate the effect of bovine somatotropin (bST) between 97 and 124 days of gestation, on maternaland foetal growthand development. Five ewes (reference group) were slaughteredat 96 days of gestation, and the remaining ewes were injected daily with saline (control group: no = 10) or 0·1 mg/kgbody weight of bST (bST group: no. = 10). Following bST treatment, five control- and five bST groupewes were slaughtered (slaughter group). The remaining ewes (production group) were allowed to lamb, after which the lambs were slaughtered within 2 h of birth. Bovine somatotropin reducedthe proportion of maternal body fat, but had no major impacton wool growth, maternal gain and gross skeletal measurements, and foetal growth and development. Maternal bST treatment tended to affect the number of placentomes. It should, however, be emphasized that these results are based on small numbers of animals and that further research in this area is required.