Management of twinning in mares by manual crushing at day 16 to 17 of pregnancy

Twin pregnancy is a commonly encountered non-infectious condition in equines having distressing e?ects on health and future fertility of mares as well as significant financial implications. Using ultrasonography, twins can be dealt relatively easily and e?ectively during early pregnancy. Elimination of one embryo might be accomplished by application of pressure on one embryo manually or by using the ultrasound probe (allantocentesis) leading to disruption of the embryonic vesicle, while leaving the other embryo intact. The present study reports the successful management of twinning in mares (n=7) at day 16 to 17 pregnancy by means of manual crushing using rectal pinch methodology. In present study, viable singleton pregnancy was observed in all animals excluding one case, as observed by ultrasonography two weeks post treatment (day 30) and success rate 85.71 % (6/7) was observed. Therefore, manual crushing at day 16-17 is an efficacious treatment strategy for management of twinning in mares.