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SHETLAND PONIES, MINIATURE SHETLANDS & OTHER MINIATURE HORSES |
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| Like most breeders of Shetlands and Miniatures we are all constantly looking for an alternative to the ever increasing burden of veterinary costs, especially in respect of pregnancy diagnosis of our mares. Charges vary around the country but with "call out fees", "consultation fees" and fees for various tests can leave breeders facing charges of up to £50 per mare. The veterinary options currently available to the breeder are: (1) Real time scanning. This is not possible for miniatures and is not to be recommended for standard ponies as the rectal orifice is too small and would cause far too much stress to the animal. (2) ECG Blood Test. Available from between 45/90 days and is up to 90% accurate but can produce false negative diagnosis. (3) Oestrogen sulphate. This is produced by the foetus and can be detected in the serum from 100 days. (4) Urine test. This test carried out at 150 days is very reliable. The problem with all of these tests is that by the time you have an accurate diagnosis many breeding cycles will have elapsed. By adapting existing equipment from their range Agritech are able to offer an external method where breeders are able to obtain an accurate diagnosis from as early as 45 days by following a very simple procedure. The equipment consists of a probe and headset through which we are able to listen to the various sounds of pregnancy. A small amount of liquid paraffin covers the end of the probe which is then placed on the hair free area around the mares udders. The probe is then angled at about 45° towards the body of the pony and the general area of the uterus is scanned until one of the three very distinctive sounds which are included on the Agritech audio instruction tape is clearly heard. These are the fremitus, the increased bloodflow through the uterine artery, the flow through the umbilical vessels and the foetal heartbeat. Any one of these distinctive sounds is positive confirmation that the animal is pregnant and provided that the instructions are followed precisely it will be impossible to obtain a false positive diagnosis. A negative diagnosis occurs when these sounds are absent, in which case a further test should be carried out within the next 7/10 days to reconfirm the original diagnosis. Using the probe you can routinely check on the wellbeing of your pony and the foal right through to foaling. Ultrasonic testing using the Agritech doppler is completely safe and can be carried out as often as required. So breeders can now benefit from earlier, safe simple and very cost-effective pd. Testing as few as 6 or 7 mares per year will easily recover the cost of the equipment within the first 2 years. And, with a 3 year guarantee against manufacturing faults and an expected lifespan well in excess of 10 years this has to be the most cost effective method of pregnancy diagnosis available today. This equipment is also suitable for use with larger ponies up to approx. 14 hands. All Agritech equipment comes with coupling medium, handbook, audio instructions and video/cd and is neatly packed in our distinctive shoulder bag.
"Doppler" is acknowledged worldwide as being the most accurate and efficient method of pregnancy diagnosis.
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