PEDIGREE ANALYSIS IN A HERD OF DAIRY GOATS WITH RESPECT TO THE INCIDENCE OF HYDROMETRA

The average incidence of hydrometra in a herd of white Dutch dairy goa ts during four oestrous seasons was 10.4%. Hydrometra recurred in seve n does during separate oestrous seasons, which gives a repeatability o f 16.3%. Pedigree analysis did not reveal a relationship between 42 ps eudopregnant goats, Compared with the pedigrees of a random sample of 42 unaffected animals, there was no marked difference in the frequency of mating with one or more bucks. The frequency of hydrometra was sig nificantly higher in daughters of pseudopregnant does than in the rand om group and also tended to occur more often in mothers of pseudopregn ant goats. The results provide indications for a genetic influence on the occurrence of hydrometra in goats.