Effects of season and superovulatory treatment on embryo yields in fine-wool Merinos maintained under field conditions

The aim of the study was to assess the effects of superovulatory treatment (multiple FSH‐dose vs single‐shot FSH treatment) and seasonality on embryo yields in fine‐wool Merino ewes. Treatment based on multiple FSH‐dose consisted of 200 mg of FSH (Folltropin^®) administered in seven decreasing doses. Single‐shot treatment consisted of a single dose of 70 mg of FSH + eCG. In ewes treated with multiple FSH doses, number of recovered embryos was higher (6.0 ± 0.5 vs 3.5 ± 1.0), while non‐fertilization rate was lower (12.8 ± 3.9 vs 40.3 ± 9.5) during the breeding season when compared to the non‐breeding season (p < 0.05); although similar values of recovered Grades 1–2 embryos were observed between seasons. During the breeding season, proportion of responding ewes (98.1 vs 57.1%), ovulation rate (13.9 ± 0.8 vs 3.2 ± 1.2), recovered structures (7.9 ± 0.6 vs 1.7 ± 0.7), total recovered embryos (6.0 ± 0.5 vs 1.2 ± 0.6) and good‐quality embryos (5.1 ± 0.5 vs 0.9 ± 0.6) were higher for the multiple FSH‐dose treatment than for the single‐shot protocol. In a similar way, in the non‐breeding season, ovulation rate (11.3 ± 1.8 vs 6.0 ± 1.1) and recovered structures (6.6 ± 1.2 vs 2.7 ± 0.6) were higher for the multiple FSH injections protocol than those for the single‐shot treatment, resulting in higher recovered Grades 1–2 embryos (3.2 ± 0.9 vs 1.4 ± 0.5). Current results indicate that seasonal anestrus affected embryo yields when applying multiple FSH‐dose superovulatory treatment in Merino ewes, by decreasing the number of recovered embryos although the number of recovered good‐quality embryos was not affected. During both seasons, multiple FSH injections produced higher ovarian response and number of viable embryos than the single‐shot treatment.