Incidence of hydrometra in dairy goats

Hydrometra or pseudopregnancy is characterised by the accumulation of aseptic fluid within the uterus and a persistent corpus luteum. In goats the diagnosis can be easily made by ultrasound. The incidence of hydrometra was investigated in three herds of dairy goats, in two of them during one oestrous season and in the other over three years. The incidence varied between 3.0 per cent and 20.8 per cent with a mean incidence of 9.0 per cent. The incidence in older goats was significantly higher than in yearlings, and the chance of a hydrometra increased with the age of the goats. The finding, during one year, that a pseudopregnancy occurred more often after an induced ovulation, was not repeated in another year.