Early pregnancy detection by real-time ultrasonography in Boer goats

Early pregnancy detection in goats was not practicable until recently. The present investigation evaluated the use of transrectal and transabdominal real-time ultrasonography for this purpose in a flock of Boer goats. Measurements were conducted by both the transrectal and transabdominal routes. A rectal 7.5 MHz linear array transducer enabled the reliable recognition of uterine fluid accumulation, indicating early pregnancy, from day 19.5 (S.E.M. 0.3) of pregnancy onwards; fetal heartbeat could be detected from day 22.9 (S.E.M. 0.7). With an abdominal 3.5 MHz transducer, the corresponding times for the first reliable detection of pregnancy were from day 24.7 (S.E.M. 0.4) onwards for uterine fluid accumulation and from day 27.0 (S.E.M. 0.6) for fetal heartbeat. No false positive pregnancy diagnoses occurred with either transducer in non-pregnant does. For maximum reliability, the rectal transducer approach is recommended and observation of the fetal heartbeat as conclusive evidence of the presence of a live fetus. Real-time ultrasonography is recommended as a reliable means of pregnancy detection as early as 26 days after conception.