Abstract
The aim of the study was determination of the relationship between pregnancy age and placentome measurement by using an ultrasound technique. This study was conducted in some private farms in Sulaimani province. A total of seventy-two Maraz does were checked by using transabdominal and transrectal ultrasonic transducers for pregnancy status, 47.2% (34/72) of these goats were pregnant. Twenty-seven non-pregnant does were synchronized for estrus by using vaginal sponges for 11 days followed by injection of 500 IU of PMSG hormones after withdrawing the sponges and naturally served to obtain pregnancy. 63% (17/27) of the synchronized goats became pregnant, all synchronized goats were scanned every seven to ten days beginning from day 35 to 140 of gestation transabdominally (TA) with sector-probe (4-5MHz) and transrectally (TR) with linear-probe (7.5-9 MHz). The placentomes width and height increased significantly (P≤0.05) with the progress of the gestation period, and the first observation of placentomes were in 32 and 42 days by depended (TR) and (TA) respectively. The width and height were 10.2 mm and 9.8 mm respectively during 40-50 days of gestation and maximum sizes were 45 mm and 38 mm in 130 days of gestation period. There is a little significant difference (P≤0.05) between single and twin pregnancy just in 61-70 and 81-90 days of gestation period. In conclusion, there is a strong relationship between the size of placentome and the progress of pregnancy, there are no serious differences in the size of placentomes in single and multiple pregnancy goats, and using transrectal scanning is useful for early detection of pregnancy.

Key words: Ultrasound technique, Pregnancy diagnosis, Maraz goats