Increased incidence of peri-parturient problems in ewes with pregnancy toxaemia

Abstract In total, 16 ewes with pregnancy toxaemia and 12 healthy animals were monitored for peri-parturient problems (dystocia, perinatal death of offspring, post-partum genital disorders). Mean duration of pregnancy was significantly shorter in ewes with pregnancy toxaemia (145.75 days) than in healthy animals (148.42 days) ( P  P  = 0.01), incidence of perinatal mortality of offspring was 0.375 in the former animals and 0.083 in the latter ( P  = 0.039) and incidence of post-partum genital disorders was 0.250 and 0.000, respectively ( P  = 0.031). Finally, mean blood concentration of β-hydroxybutyrate at the end of gestation was higher in ewes that developed dystocia (3.71 mmol L −1 ) or post-partum genital disorders (3.90 mmol L −1 ) than in ewes that did not (1.91 mmol L −1 and 2.18 mmol L −1 , respectively; P  = 0.003 and P  = 0.094).