Ultrasonographic screening of embryo development in cattle (Bos indicus) between days 20 and 40 of pregnancy

Through a transrectal ultrasonography (Aloka SSD 500 microplus equipment, linear transducer of 7.5 MHz) a total of 267 observations were performed in a group of 50 females mainly Bos indicus, raised under humid tropical conditions and pregnant from day 20 every other day until day 40 post-artificial insemination (AI). The objective was to measure the size of the amniotic vesicle and the longitudinal and transversal axis of the embryo, to determine the day in which it is possible to measure this structure and detect the heart contractions in the screened embryos. The accuracy in identifying the amniotic vesicle was 60% (12/20) on day 20 of the first screening with embryos having an average length of 0.44 +/- 0.20 cm. Accuracy in detecting the embryo was 66.6 and 100% between days 20 and 24 post-breeding, respectively. The mean length of the embryos on day 20 was of 0.20 +/- 0.07 cm and the transversal shape had a mean length of 0.07 +/- 0.02 cm. The accuracy of detecting heart contractions was 50% (9/18) on day 24 post-breeding and for day 26 the accuracy was 100%. At the end of the screening (day 40), embryos had means of 1.92 +/- 0.24 (longitudinal) and 0.85 +/- 0.11 cm (transverse). The embryo can be detected from day 24 post-AI and the heart contractions from day 26 with 100% reliability.