Early pregnancy diagnosis in the ewe, based on milk progesterone levels.
Plasma and milk progesterone concentrations in pregnant sheep (18--22 days after mating) were similar, about 3.7 ng/ml whereas values in non-pregnant sheep were less than 1 ng/ml. Lambing results indicated identical accuracy for both methods (82 and 84% in 2 flocks). The accuracy was 92--100% for ewes diagnosed non-pregnant in the breeding season, but for ewes tested in the non-breeding season the diagnosis of non-pregnancy according to milk progesterone levels was only 50% accurate.
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D008892:Milk / Q000032:analysis*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011258:Pregnancy Tests / Q000662:veterinary*; D011374:Progesterone / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D012756:Sheep / Q000502:physiology*
D011374:Progesterone