165. Postnatal Nutritional Programming of the Ovarian Reserve in Beef Heifers.

Clicks: 13
ID: 330120
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Steady

Ranked #430 of 847 articles by views in italian journal of animal science

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 847 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Abstract Nutritional management of heifers during the first year of life can influence reproductive efficiency and longevity. It is well established that heifers are born with a finite number of follicles within their ovaries, and the ovarian reserve is depleted at a presumed constant rate over time. Nutritional management, however, has been demonstrated to influence follicle numbers in the ovary of both rodents and heifers. In rats, decreased nutrient intake during the peri-pubertal phase increased the number of primordial follicles in the ovaries. Research in developing heifers has evaluated the impact of altering nutrient intake and growth patterns during development on ovarian development and the ovarian reserve. Heifers managed on a stair-step growth pattern, with decreased nutrient intake post-weaning during the peri-pubertal development period, followed by an increase in nutrient intake, resulted in increased numbers of primordial follicles compared to heifers developed on a constant rate of gain. In New Mexico, heifers were developed on either a constant gain or a stair-step nutritional program and managed either in the drylot or grazing native range. Heifers developed on a stair-step system in the drylot and on native range had increased primordial follicles per histological section compared to constant gain drylot, with constant gain native range similar to all other treatments. Developing heifers on a stair-step nutritional program, regardless of management (drylot or native range), resulted in an increased ovarian reserve. Recent research in Wyoming used a similar 2 × 2 factorial arrangement, reported a significant treatment × year interaction, with stair-step heifers in year two having an increased number of primordial follicles (P = 0.05) compared to all other treatments in year one and two. Stair-step developed heifers had a greater (P = 0.03) number of primordial follicles compared to constant gain heifers. Across all studies, stair-step heifers did not have an increase in antral follicle count to coincide with their increased primordial follicle numbers. Recent research placed stair-step developed heifers into production to evaluate longevity, reporting stair-step heifers had improved herd survival. Overall, these results suggest nutritional management during critical stages of development can influence the size of the ovarian reserve and impact reproductive longevity. Physiological mechanisms controlling increased primordial follicle numbers and enhanced reproductive longevity in stair-step heifers, however, are not well understood. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
Reference Key
openalex_W7214704791 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Shelby L Rosasco
Are you one of these authors? Claim your profile
Journal italian journal of animal science
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/jas/skag272.211
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skag272.211
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.