Early pregnancy diagnosis in swine
Detection of early pregnancy in swine is important for several reasons. It can help to identify non-pregnant animals that need to be culled, treated or rebred. It can also help to forecast production levels and optimize feeding and management practices. It can reduce the calving to conception interval and increase the reproductive efficiency of swine operations. There are many methods for early pregnancy diagnosis in swine, as different methods may have different advantages and disadvantages depending on the cost, accuracy, availability, ease of use and time required. However, some of the methods that have been reported to be effective include:
Real-time ultrasound (RTU)
This method uses an external transabdominal probe to visualize the uterus and the embryos as early as the third week after breeding¹. It has high accuracy and can also detect fetal viability, litter size and fetal anomalies¹. However, it requires expensive equipment and skilled operators¹.
Doppler ultrasound
This method uses a probe to detect the sounds of blood flow in the uterine arteries, fetal movement and fetal heartbeat as early as 26 days after breeding³. It has high accuracy and can be used throughout the pregnancy period³. However, it also requires expensive equipment and trained operators³.
Serum analysis
This method involves collecting a blood sample from the ear vein and testing it for pregnancy hormones such as estrone sulfate or progesterone after 22 days after breeding³⁵. It has high accuracy and can be done by sending the sample to a laboratory or using a rapid test kit³⁵. However, it requires invasive sampling and may give false positive results if pregnancy loss occurs after implantation³⁵.
Some other methods that are less commonly used include observation of estrus signs, vaginal biopsy and amplitude tests²³.
Swine Pregnancy Rapid Test Kit
A swine pregnancy rapid test kit is a tool that can be used to detect pregnancy hormones such as estrone sulfate or progesterone in pig urine after 22 days of breeding or insemination. It is a simple and fast method that involves using a test strip to dip into the urine sample and reading the result within 10 minutes. It can detect pregnancy as early as 23-25 days post AI operation. However, it may give false positive results if pregnancy loss occurs after implantation or if the urine sample is contaminated.
There are already some commercial swine pregnancy rapid test kits available, but the test results remain unknown. In particular, that progesterone based rapid test kits are less accurate and unreliable when used for pregnancy testing due to this hormone is unstable during gestation, which is not a good marker for pregnancy testing. Estrone sulfate, as proper marker, has been reported since 70s. It is related to pregnancy and litter size in swine reproduction.
Ringbio pig pregnancy rapid test kit is then developed based on the detection of this hormone. In local field testing, it is proven to be reliable and easy to use, especially for small farmers who don't have ultrasound scanners or veterinarian on farm. The test only needs 10min for urine testing, simple and fast. Now it helps thousands of farms in their reproduction management and has been accepted in local market.
How the swine pregnancy rapid test kit works
In this short youtube video, we will show you how this pregnancy rapid test kit works
References
(1) Ultrasound - Swine Reproduction - University of Illinois Extension. http://livestocktrail.illinois.edu/swinerepronet/paperDisplay.cfm?ContentID=6269.
(2) Methods of pregnancy diagnosis | The Pig Site. https://www.thepigsite.com/genetics-and-reproduction/fertility/methods-of-pregnancy-diagnosis-pd.
(3) Pregnancy diagnosis in swine: A comparison of two ultrasound instruments. https://www.swinepro.com/swine-articles/breeding-reproduction/pregnancy-diagnosis-in-swine-a-comparison-of-two-ultrasound-instruments/.
(4) Pregnancy Diagnosis in Swine - Pork Information Gateway. https://porkgateway.org/resource/pregnancy-diagnosis-in-swine/.
(5) Early pregnancy diagnosis in swine by direct ... - ScienceDirect. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378432001001452.
