An overview of sheep fertility: what can we learn from a poor scanning result and how can we prevent it happening again?

Pregnancy failure can have a substantial economic impact on sheep flocks. Practitioners need to understand how to investigate pregnancy failure, including its subcategories: fertilisation failure, implantation failure and early embryonic death. Additionally, practitioners and farmers should recognise that preventive measures for future pregnancy failures must be implemented sufficiently far in advance of the mating period. this article provides an overview of sheep fertility, covering investigations into pregnancy failure, synchronisation, breeding season advancement and related interventions.