Prenatal development of Iranian goat fetuses

ABSTRACT: The goal of the present study was to establish the basic information about the prenatal development of Iranian goats. Pregnant goat reproductive organs which had no apparent abnormalities were collected from Ahvaz city abattoir (southern Iran) for study of prenatal development of fetuses. After splitting of uteri and separating of fetal membranes fetuses were expelled. Then the weights of fetuses and fetal membranes, lengths of tibia, radius, crown-rump lengths (CRL) and, chest circumference were measured. Analyses of data were done by SPSS.16 software and comparisons of mean values were performed by Duncan’s method. The results showed that the lengths of tibia, radius, CRL and chest circumferences were increased by approaching the final months of pregnancy. Also the weights of fetuses and fetal membranes were increased from early to late stages of fetal ages. It is concluded that various parameters of fetal intra uterine growth could be attributed to the breed, nutritional status, age and genetic factors