Checking for pregnancy in cows is done by a very common and popular method in cattle, called rectal palpation. It is a method not suitable for the most picky, but it is the cheapest and often the fastest; it can be learned easily by anyone who raises cows. The following steps show you how to properly control pregnancy in a cow or heifer.
Steps
Step 1. Isolate the cow
Place the female cow in a containment cage or rack with gates on either side to prevent her from moving.
Step 2. Dress appropriately
A vet suit or suit is ideal for this job. However, if you have old clothes that you don't care about getting dirty, they're still fine.
Step 3. Put on the glove
Put a shoulder-length latex glove over your dominant hand that you will use to do the rectal palpation.
Step 4. Lubricate the glove
Apply a fair amount of veterinary lube to your hand and rub it so that it is well distributed over the back and palm.
Step 5. Enter the rectum
Grab the tail with one hand (the one without the glove), hold it higher than your head. With your gloved hand, bring your fingers together as if you want to hold a puppet (the tip of the thumb joins the other four fingers) and holding the hand in this position insert it into the cow's rectum at a 45-60 ° angle.
It will be quite difficult to push, because the cow will resist and will tend to eject the hand towards the outside. Keeping the wrist stiff and in line with the rest of the arm, the elbow should be slightly flexed so that you have enough strength to push
Step 6. Eject any unwanted stools that are taking up too much space
If the rectum is full of feces, carefully pick up the fecal matter with your hand and retract it far enough that you can expel the excrement. Pull them out in enough quantity to have enough room to work and to be able to find and reach the cervix.
Step 7. Locate the cervix
It will be located under the hand, as well as the rest of the animal's reproductive tract. You should be able to feel a hard cylindrical area. If you have entered the cow up to the shoulder and still cannot find the cervix, perhaps you have entered too far. Move back until you can feel the cylindrical object under your fingers.
Step 8. Move further into the cow
If you have short arms, perhaps you could get on a stool, or go up to the shoulder until you can feel the fallopian tubes and the uterus of the cow.
Step 9. Pay attention if you feel the fetus and uterine tract
If you feel that the uterus is distended, with a small oval ball of fluid floating inside or something that might appear to a fetus, then the cow is pregnant. If, on the other hand, you do not feel anything like that, only the uterus, the cow is not pregnant.
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It takes a lot of practice to understand what you feel. It is often best to check if she is pregnant 2-5 months after the gestation period, so that you can feel something larger than a golf ball-sized ovary. The size you should feel varies according to the pregnancy status of the cow, namely:
- 2 months - the size of a mouse
- 3 months - the size of a mouse
- 4 months - the size of a small cat
- 5 months - the size of a large cat
- 6 months - the size of a small dog
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7 months - size of a Beagle
These evaluation criteria are good for an analysis if you suspect that the cow has an abortion
- A veterinarian who specializes in large animals who is more experienced and has checked the pregnancy of multiple cows will certainly be more accurate than one who has only checked a couple of them. The same rule applies to you: the more you practice, the more chances you have to control the cows, the more precise you will become in the analysis.
Step 10. Finally remove the arm and release the cow
Once you have established whether the cow or heifer is pregnant and for how long, remove the arm from the animal and return it to the herd. Then repeat the operation with another cow or heifer.
Step 11. Throw the glove into the trash after every single check
Advice
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There are many other signs that indicate whether a cow is pregnant, in addition to feeling the fetus and / or uterus.
- The position of the ovaries can change as pregnancy progresses, descending deeper into the abdominal cavity.
- Between 5 and a half months and 7 and a half months it may be more difficult to feel the fetus because it may have descended deeper into the abdominal cavity. If you can get enough into the pregnant animal, you can also feel the flexed head or limbs of the fetus.
- From the seventh and a half months to the end of gestation it may be a little easier to feel the fetus. However, some cows may have very low uterus due to previous pregnancies and therefore it can still be a difficult task. Feeling the cotyledons on the placenta is also one way to determine pregnancy; as well as from the uterine veins, as they become larger and have a vibrant and strong heartbeat on palpation.
- The best way to determine a cow's due date is to maintain good control of the mounds. If you know when the cow was covered and if she got pregnant, then you can have a pretty good idea of when she will give birth.
- You may want to consider taking an artificial insemination course, which is usually organized by companies that sell bull sperm to cattle ranchers, to get better prepared and learn how to check the pregnancy of cows and heifers. Since artificial insemination involves the same "invasive" procedures, as described above, it is very likely to learn at the same time how to verify the pregnancy of cattle.
- Practice makes perfect. Don't expect to know if she is pregnant in a moment, as it may take up to a couple of minutes in the cow before you actually find anything.
- Some breeders, veterinarians and the instructor of the artificial insemination course prefer to change gloves after each cow, to prevent the spread of reproductive diseases such as trichomoniasis. Often this is good hygiene practice to be adopted to prevent the spread of diseases from one cow to another.
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Observation is another method of determining pregnancy in cows. Signs may occur such as an increase in the size of the belly during the late phase of gestation, changes in the breasts or swelling along the belly just before the breasts.
If you are observing and recording the regular heat cycles of cows and find that they have lost one, two or more, this is also another indication of pregnancy
- If you are inexperienced or can't find time to learn on your own, contact an area veterinarian who is competent for large animals to do it for you. Make sure he has a lot of experience with cattle and horses, so there will be less chance of mistakes than someone who only does this type of work occasionally.
- The cow's anus is located above the vulva. You have to go into the anus and not the vulva of the cow, to do a correct check.
Warnings
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Make sure you get into the right "orifice". If you enter the vulva, you could potentially cause a miscarriage because you could remove the cervical plug or palpate the fetus a little too much.
Even too vigorous palpation through the rectal wall can cause miscarriages or the death of a fetus, as you could press on the fetus too violently through the uterine wall. Be firm but gentle, don't touch too much, or be too aggressive
- When you pull out the stool, don't pull too fast or you'll end up with a pile of manure on you. Move slowly and calmly, allowing the anus to close naturally during the extraction phase.
- Some cows may be a little less tolerant than others during this procedure. You may get kicked, or the cow may suddenly decide to move or get off the rack with your arm still in it. Try to move with her as best you can, but there may also be a risk of straining an arm muscle or even breaking it if things really get out of hand.
- If you are disgusted with the idea of having to deal with smelly cow droppings, having to do a rectal palpation of your cows or even the thought of having to do it makes you sick, then avoid it. Hire a large animal vet to do it for you.
