We discuss a lot of different topics in our Facebook Group. It's a wonderful place for breeders, farmers and even veterinarians to come together and share their images and experiences. The only downside is that, unlike a proper forum, it's impossible to mark certain posts as 'sticky' and keep them at the top for everyone to reference! Hence, below is a copy of some of the posts which address the most frequency asked questions on our Facebook group.

External scanning on small ruminants:

Catherine: Goats are ruminants and best results are achieved by scanning where my red arrow is, on the right hand side of the mammary gland. This allows you to avoid all the gas in their stomachs. They are also a little less hairy here but there will still be some hair and it can be quite wirey, so one way to give yourself the best chance is to mix your gel with a bit of water to really help get you that much-needed contact.

HB RJ: Makes complete sense thanks Catherine! This is the only spot I could get any sort of image at all. I had to press quite hard & keep the probe still in the same spot for at least 20 secs, much longer than it takes to appear on the screen in dogs.

I did manage to clip the goats, though that was the cause of most of the drama & not the actual scanning.

I started scanning just behind the udders & worked backwards along the midline to begin with, couldn't see a single thing. I had no idea about the gassy stomach, was so confused as it looked like the goat had no internal organs at all!!

Useful to know about mixing gel with water for contact, will try that next time along with not clipping & see if I can get as good an image as I did clipped.
I have a pic I will post up, not entirely sure exactly how many days gestation the kid in the pic is as the billy goat was in with the girls for about 2 weeks though I guess the more I do the better idea I'll have!

On the upside they did give me a sheep to scan who just lay on her back with her legs in the air!!

Catherine: Wow, very impressed with your perseverance there Heather. Without a starting point it must have been pretty demoralising at first.

Mark: My little tip from my first go at goats would be use lube not gel for a good contact I was struggling with gel tried lube worked better I scanned a couple of goats sheep and pigs was sopse to be scanning cows not 100 if I done it right lol but trying again soon

Catherine: Thanks Mark, that's a very helpful tip!

See the full discussion by clicking here. See also a discussion on placentation in ruminants here.

Scanning Miniature Horses

Miniature Horse Vet Image Solutions

Catherine: One of the first ever successful images of pregnancy in miniature horses, captured by Dr Kowalski with the Draminski Animal Profi.

Nicola: How far along in her pregnancy was this catherine?

Catherine: Hi Nicola! This was at around 4 months.

Nicola: Thanks great pic

Catherine: Thank you! We were pretty excited because there are very few (if any) reported successful scans of miniature horse pregnancies. They are too gassy to scan externally with ease, but too small to scan rectally. So to get this image was like winning the lottery.

Sharon: Omg fantastic picture.

Nicola: Well I will be trying this season with my cretz on a few miniatures will let you knowmthe outcome, im asuming you position the prob same place as if you were scanning a dog? Any tips gratfully recieved, once my mare come back from breaking I will be practicing on her .

Catherine: Hi Nicola - the best way would be like scanning a goat or sheep (from the side, under the leg). You have to try to find some little space through somewhere between all the air. It will be extremely difficult with a regular abdominal probe, but would love to see if you have any success. Don't feel down if you don't... getting this picture took about 3 hours and with four different machines!

Nicola: Ok thanks catherine , well my miniture lives at home so time isnt an isssue so will have a go and post the images

Catherine: I'm imagining her reclining on the sofa in front of the tv right now, but probably not what you meant. I'm looking forward to hearing how you get on

Nicola: Lol she does have a Very comfy stable in our garden

Click here for the full thread.