Table 3.

Effect of diet on sex ratio of first litter born to mature mice, aged 20–27 wk before breeding

Diet	n	Conception weight, g	Litter size	Gestation length, days	Sex ratio*	No. of male-biased litters
LF	14	31.0  ± 4.9	9.2  ± 3.6	20.4  ± 1.5	0.38	2
VHF	11	41.4  ± 7.4	9.1  ± 3.4	20.4  ± 1.7	0.64	10

Mice (n = 16 in each group) were fed either the VHF or LF diet from 30 days of age until they had weaned their first litters of pups. The numbers under treatment are <16 and reflect either that some litters were cannibalized or the lack of receptivity of some of the mice to the males. Values for maternal weights at conception, litter size, and gestation length are means ± SD. Mothers on VHF diet were significantly heavier (P < 0.001) than ones on LF diet. 

^*Sex ratios deviated significantly from 0.5 (P < 0.05).