Investigation of the relationship between serum antimullerian hormone level and the lamb number in akkaraman and pirlak sheep

Estimating the fertility status of the sheep to be used in breeding is essential to make more profitable animal sheep breeding. In this context, the determination of ovarian reserve has the potential to give information about the fertility of livestock. In some studies have been reported that there was a positive relationship between antimullerian hormone concentrations and morphologically healthy follicles known to be produced by healthy and developing follicles. In this study based on this information, the relationship between serum AMH levels and lamb number per sheep in Pırlak and Akkaraman sheep breeds were investigated. To determine the serum AMH levels, blood samples from 40 heads of Pırlak and 40 heads of Akkaraman sheep that had lambed at least once, were collected before breeding season. Serum AMH levels were analyzed using the ELISA method. The number of ewes lambed, the numbers of lambs born, lambing type (single, twin or triplet), sex of lambs, as well as lambing ease, were recorded. In the study; serum AMH values of Pırlak sheep (51.29 - (9.8 -180.12) pg/ml) were found higher than serum AMH values of Akkaraman sheep (20.66 - (10.49 - 49.97) pg/ml) (p<0.01) and, serum AMH values of Pırlak sheep with triplet or twin lambs were found higher than Pırlak sheep with single lamb (p<0.05). As a result, it was concluded that serum AMH level has the potential to be a marker in the selection of animals with multiple pregnancies. Keywords: Antimullerian Hormone, Fertility, Sheep