Vet World   Vol.19   January-2026  Article - 14 

Field evaluation of visual endoscope-assisted transcervical artificial insemination in goats: Effects on insemination time and pregnancy outcomes under tropical conditions

Background and Aim: Artificial insemination (AI) in goats is constrained by the complex cervical anatomy, which limits the efficiency of conventional transcervical AI (C-TCAI), particularly under field conditions. Although laparoscopic AI (LAI) achieves higher fertility rates, its invasive nature, need for anesthesia, and high operational costs limit its routine application. Visual endoscope-assisted transcervical AI (VE-TCAI) offers a minimally invasive alternative that enables real-time cervical visualization and potentially improves procedural efficiency. This study evaluated the field performance of VE-TCAI compared with C-TCAI in native–Boer crossbred goats by assessing insemination time and pregnancy outcomes. 

Materials and Methods: A total of 37 multiparous native–Boer crossbred does maintained on two commercial farms in northeastern Thailand were enrolled in a completely randomized field trial. Estrus was synchronized using intravaginal progesterone-releasing devices in combination with equine chorionic gonadotropin and cloprostenol sodium. Fixed-time AI was performed 48 h after device removal using frozen–thawed semen (200 million spermatozoa per doe). Does were inseminated either by C-TCAI using a vaginal speculum or by VE-TCAI using a portable visual endoscopic insemination system. Insemination time was recorded and categorized as ≤1 min or >1 min. Pregnancy was diagnosed by transabdominal ultrasonography at 45 days postinsemination. Data were analyzed using Fisher’s exact test. 

Results: VE-TCAI significantly improved procedural efficiency, with a greater proportion of does inseminated within 1 min compared with C-TCAI (78% vs 39%; p = 0.020). Pregnancy rates were numerically higher in the VE-TCAI group than in the C-TCAI group (45.5% vs 33.3%), although the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.737). Overall conception rate across both methods was 37.8%, yielding an average litter size of 1.36 kids per pregnant doe. No major procedure-related complications were observed. 

Conclusion: Visual endoscope-assisted transcervical AI markedly reduced insemination time and facilitated easier cervical navigation under field conditions. Although pregnancy rates did not differ significantly, the consistent numerical improvement suggests potential biological relevance. VE-TCAI represents a practical, minimally invasive alternative to C-TCAI and LAI for field-based goat breeding programs, particularly in tropical production systems, warranting validation in larger multi-farm studies. 

Keywords: artificial insemination, cervical visualization, endoscope-assisted insemination, goat reproduction, goat fertility, reproductive biotechnology, transcervical insemination, tropical goat production.

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How to cite this article: Sringam S, Suwannathada P, Kunkitti P, Deesuk P, Wichaiwong A, Sringam P. Field evaluation of visual endoscope-assisted transcervical artificial insemination in goats: Effects on insemination time and pregnancy outcomes under tropical conditions. Vet World. 2026; 19(1) 169-179.

Received: 18-08-2025   Accepted: 15-12-2025   Published online: 14-01-2026

Corresponding author: Sarawut Sringam    E-mail: sarsri@kku.ac.th

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2026.169-179

Copyright: Sringam, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.