title: Pregnancy diagnosis in swine: A comparison of the technique of rectal palpation and ultrasound.
abstract: The accuracy of pregnancy diagnosis in swine by rectal palpation and by ultrasound was compared using sows and gilts thirty days or more after breeding. A total of eighty-four pigs were included in this experiment and they were examined an average of thirty-nine days following breeding. Forty-nine animals were slaughtered within a few days of pregnancy examination and thirtyfive were allowed to farrow. Pregnancy status was correctly diagnosed by palpation per rectum in eighty-three of the eighty-four pigs (98.8%) and by ultrasound in eighty-one of the eighty-four pigs (96.6%) examined. The accuracy of the two methods was not significantly different.
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, Missouri 65211 USA.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Balke
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Elmore