This summary was extracted from the application. A copy of the student’s Abstract/Thesis has not been received.
This project aims to create and analyse an historical database of ewe fertility records across Australia. This will be achieved by collating historical data from sheep pregnancy scanning contractors. Multiple ultrasound scanning companies have agreed to contribute deidentified records to this project for research purposes. This data provides a range of valuable information about the ewes to be analysed such as postcode, sheep breed, date of scanning, estimated date of joining, number of ewes scanned, number of ewes pregnant, and number of fetuses recorded (if scanned for twins). Records include data on approximately ten million ewes scanned across New South Wales and South Australia over the last decade. Hardcopy and electronic records will be manually transcribed into an electronic database to be analysed with mixed models in R and geographical information systems (GIS) used to visualise changes in fertility with time and region. Through these methods of data collection and analysis, this project aims to create an accessible, interactive, and robust set of data to be utilized as a tool to inform wool growers and the wool industry on historical reproductive performance over time, region and season.