Pregnancy diagnosis by linear transabdominal ultrasonography in goats

Abstract

The aim of the present trial was to evaluate linear real-time transabdominal ultrasonography as a diagnostic method of pregnancy in goats. Twenty-seven Nubian goats and nulliparous, primiparous and multiparous crosses were used between 55 and 105 days of pregnancy. The technique consisted in making the diagnosis with the animal standing up, placing the transducer in the ventral abdominal region lateral to the right mammary gland. The diagnosis of pregnancy was positive in 23/23 (100%) and in pseudo-pregnancy in 2/2 (100%). In the determination of the number of fetuses it was effective in 16/23 (69.6%) and ineffective in 7/23 (30.4%). Inaccuracy was found in an excess of 3/7 (42.8%) and a defect in 4/7 (57.2%), due to the difficulty of differentiating between doubles and triples and not between singles and doubles. It is concluded that linear real-time transabdominal ultrasonography is an excellent method of diagnosis of pregnancy, not pregnancy and pseudo-pregnancy. Its effectiveness decreases when it aims to correctly determine the number of fetuses.