ultrasound: make the most of your breeding program

By ultrasounding ewes at 35-60 days of pregnancy it is possible to determine which animals are pregnant and which are “empty” or “open”. This information can be used to make decisions such as whether to cull empty animals or whether to include them in an out-of-season breeding program.
At this stage of pregnancy it is often possible to count fetuses as well. This information can help with pregnancy management. Ewes carrying multiples benefit greatly from increased nutrition in late gestation. Ewes that are carrying singles can become over conditioned and can develop metabolic diseases at lambing (pregnancy toxemia). Those animals lambing during the grazing season can also be strategically dewormed based on pregnancy status, resulting in less use of deworming medications and minimizing resistance development of intestinal parasites.
Schedule a visit for pregnancy ultrasound of your ewes as part of your routine flock management. These visits are included in our Flock Health Program – please ask us for more information.