A comparison of intrarectal Doppler and rectal abdominal palpation for pregnancy testing in goats

Two methods of pregnancy diagnosis--rectal abdominal palpation and the intrarectal Doppler technique--were compared for accuracy in the female goat (does). Three veterinarians were given a short period of instruction as to the use of these methods, after which 38 does were evaluated by both methods by each veterinarian. The percentage of correct determination for pregnant does ranged from 94% to 100% for examiners using the intrarectal Doppler technique and from 94% to 97% for the rectal abdominal palpation. The percentage of correct determinations for nonpregnant does ranged from 25% to 75% for intrarectal Doppler technique and was 75% for rectal abdominal palpation; however, the number of nonpregnant does was small and did not allow a valid conclusion. The results indicated that both methods are reasonably accurate for pregnancy diagnosis in does at 55 days or more after breeding and can be learned with only brief training. However, rectal abdominal palpation appears to be more hazardous with respect to rectal injury and abortion and, therefore, would not be the preferred method.