IN-VIVO DIAGNOSIS OF EMBRYO MORTALITY IN SHEEP BY REAL-TIME ULTRASOUND

Examinations of ovaries and uteri in early pregnancy by real-time ultr asound in sheep could be the base for investigations on embryo mortali ty in vivo. Therefore, 38 adult German Mutton Merino ewes were frequen tly examined by real-time ultrasound within the breeding season concer ning number of corpora lutea as well as embryos. An Aloka SSD 500 ultr asound unit with a 5 MHz probe was used. The results were compared to post mortem examinations of 88 females from the same flock, also in th e breeding season, 1 year before. The ovulation rate diagnosed by real -time ultrasound and after killing was 2.08 and 1.93. No differences i n the level of embryo mortality occurred between the two methods (33.5 % determined by ultrasound compared with 36.7% by post mortem diagnosi s). In comparison to the post mortem examinations, ultrasonographic di agnosis is an alternative method to check embryonic mortality in livin g sheep. (C) Elsevier Science B.V.