Nutritional skewing of conceptus sex in sheep: effects of a maternal diet enriched in rumen-protected polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Evolutionary theory suggests that in polygynous mammalian species females in better body condition should produce more sons than daughters. Few controlled studies have however tested this hypothesis and controversy exists as to whether body condition score or maternal diet is in fact the determining factor of offspring sex. Here, we examined whether maternal diet, specifically increased n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) intake, of ewes with a constant body condition score around the time of conception influenced sex ratio. METHODS: Ewes (n = 44) maintained in similar body condition throughout the study were assigned either a control (C) diet or one (F) enriched in rumen-prote..