A Real Pork Scholar and DVM candidate at North Carolina State University, Lindsey Britton summarized a peer-reviewed journal article about the role of ultrasonography in improving sow health. Under the guidance of Dr. Todd See and Dr. Billy Flowers, both Professors of Animal Science at N.C. State, Britton highlights the findings of this 2019 article by Johannes Kauffold and his research colleagues across the U.S., Germany, and Finland.
Keep reading to learn more about how ultrasound technology is helping sows stay healthy and ensure proper care during pregnancy.
Major Finding
Just like in humans, ultrasonography can be used in pigs for pregnancy detection. Real-time ultrasonography (RTU) can be used throughout many life stages in swine production. These include female development, breeding, gestation, and farrowing. While RTU is important in pregnancy diagnosis, it is also useful when there are problems with reproductive performance. These problems may exist in the form of delayed puberty, females failing to get or stay pregnant, and many other concerns. RTU can be used as a tool to evaluate reproductive organs such as the uterus and ovaries. This is extremely useful when analyzing individual animals to determine reproductive health and capabilities.
Why It Matters
Determining pregnancy early is essential to ensuring that farmers are raising the most sustainable, efficient, and economical pork. Pigs that are not pregnant or fail to become pregnant can be identified early on, evaluated, and rebred. Alternatively, other solutions can be identified to address the problems found using RTU.
Early diagnosis is important for animal well-being and health because identifying any possible concerns ensures farmers consider a variety of factors concerning their animals’ reproductive capabilities. Using tools like ultrasonography helps farmers raise pigs more efficiently by identifying problems early and giving producers more time to make important management decisions regarding the health of the pigs on their farms.
How the Research Was Conducted
This article was an evaluation and summary of the past 30 years of research development and use of ultrasonography within the swine industry. Research with RTU beyond pregnancy diagnosis focuses on the parameters of fluid within the uterus as well as its texture and size. Recent work suggests that using RTU for diagnosing uterine diseases such as endometritis may be possible. Ovarian assessment has also been useful in viewing the ovarian structures of pigs to determine ovulatory capabilities as well as the status of puberty in young animals.
Read the Full Article
To learn more about how ultrasonography technology has developed over the past three decades to advance swine health research, read the full peer-reviewed research article.