Mating, fertility and fecundity index of F1

At adult age (90 days of life), F1 females from the F1-C and F1-PH ovulatory groups were mated with control males. In addition, males from the F1-PH group were mated with control females. The morning when spermatozoa were found in the vaginal smear was designated gestational day 0. The vaginal smear was followed up for 7 days, starting in the proestrus stage. A mating index was determined by monitoring the presence of vaginal plugs the morning after mating. A mating time was determined as the period (in days) until we observed the presence of vaginal plugs during the coupling.

The fertility index was determined as the number of females that delivered live pups 22 days after mating (presence of spermatozoa in the vaginal smear) over the total of females. The fecundity index was determined by as the number of females that presented a vaginal plug after mating and delivered live pups, over the total of females mated.