Early pregnancy diagnosis using transrectal ultrasonography in Gir cattle

This study was carried out on 18 pubertal anestrus Gir heifers of a dairy farm after induction/synchronization of estrus using different hormone protocols, followed by fixed time AI. The primary objectives were to detect early pregnancy and early embryonic mortality on day 26 and 40 post-AI using a real-time B-mode ultrasound scanner equipped with 5 MHz linear array transducer. Ultrasound scanning on day 26 post-AI revealed the visualization of embryonic vesicle around the conceptus. The embryo proper was observed in seven out of 11 animals (63.64%) on day 26 and all conceived animals (100%) on day 40 post-AI. No early embryonic/fetal death was noticed during the study. The overall diagnostic accuracy of the technique for early pregnancy diagnosis was recorded as 94.44% and 100% on day 26 and day 40, respectively. Plasma progesterone concentrations ranged from 3.10 - 5.26 ng/ml with an average of 4.04 ± 0.29 ng/ml in pregnant animals and 0.56 - 1.01 ng/ml with an average of 0.78 ± 0.06 ng/ml in non-pregnant animals on day 20 post-AI. In conclusion, ultrasound scanning on day 26 is useful in detection of early pregnancy, early non-pregnancy and early embryonic mortality in heifers.