Pregnancy Testing
Knowing the pregnancy status of your herd helps with decisions such as whether to sell non-pregnant cows (rather than feed them for another season with no return), or to put the non-pregnant cows back in with the bull, or to buy more cows or steers (as there will be less calves on the ground).
Veterinarians can provide accurate pregnancy diagnosis in cattle using manual palpation. This method of diagnosis allows ageing of the foetus and can be used from 6 weeks until the cow is at full term. The precision of foetal ageing depends on the skill and experience of the operator, whatever method is used.
The use of ultrasound is increasing in livestock industries with sheep scanners expanding their services into scanning cattle too. It is also necessary to have manual palpation skills as an adjunct to ultrasound – any cow that is determined to be not pregnant on ultrasound MUST be manually palpated to be conclusively diagnosed as not pregnant.
Ultrasound is limited to pregnancies less than 120 days gestation due to the deep-lying anatomy of the pregnant uterus at this stage of gestation.
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(02) 6341 3113
In addition to providing accurate cattle pregnancy diagnosis, veterinarians can help to identify any fertility problems caused by disease, nutritional deficiencies or bull problems. We can also provide professional management advice. A vet will not only provide pregnancy diagnosis but a whole ‘herd health’ visit, which is an opportunity to discuss reproductive or other concerns you have regarding your stock.
Owners may also wish to use a cattle tail tag system to identify pregnant or empty cattle with official tags upon diagnosis. Programs such as the Australian Cattle Vets National Cattle Pregnancy Diagnosis Scheme (which provide the tags) allow an increased market value of pregnant breeding females or empty feedlot heifers. This is a service that only accredited veterinarians can provide.
Please advise us when you book your pregnancy testing whether you require tail tags as all our veterinarians can perform pregnancy testing but not all our veterinarians are accredited to use tail tags.
