Abstract :
There are currently a few methods that can be used to assess the time of impending parturition in the goat, especially if
exact breeding dates are unknown. One indicator of the onset of parturition is a decrease in the doe’s blood progesterone level
approximately 24–30 h prior to parturition. Laboratory serum/plasma progesterone assays commonly require 24 h or more to
obtain results, as well as being expensive. This studywas designed to evaluate whether semi-quantitative enzyme immunoassay
(EIA) progesterone kits could be used to determine plasma progesterone levels in does during late gestation, and whether a
correlation could be drawn between the test result and the time of parturition. Plasma samples were collected twice daily from
16 pregnant does starting on day 143 of pregnancy and ending 1 day following parturition. The plasma progesterone levels
indicated by the three EIA kits were compared to one another and to a radioimmunoassay, and assessed for any relationship
to the actual time of parturition. Test results indicating low plasma progesterone levels (<1.0–2.8 ng/ml) from the Status
Pro (Synbiotics), TARGET (Biometallics), and PreMate (Camelot Farms) and tests were found to be correlated 100, 83 and
100% with the onset of parturition within 24 h. Test results indicating high plasma progesterone levels (>5.0–7.8 ng/ml) from
the Status Pro, TARGET, and PreMate tests were found to be correlated 100, 100, and 82.2% with delayed parturition. The
radioimmunoassay results concurred with the progesterone ranges given for Status Pro, TARGET, and PreMate tests in 75.7,
58.8 and 53.7% of the cases, respectively. The results of this study indicates that any one of the commercially produced EIA
progesterone tests can be used to predict with a high degree of accuracy the likelihood of parturition occurring within the next
24–30 h. These tests are simple to perform and cost effective.
© 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords :
goat , progesterone , Parturition , RIA , EIA tests
