2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16
Every farmer wants his cow to always lay after the first insemination. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Sometimes the reason is an incorrectly chosen day, and sometimes gynecological problems in a cow. How to determine pregnancy in a cow yourself? Every livestock owner should learn this.
Cow insemination
In order for a nurse to give milk regularly, she needs to give birth to a calf every year. Cows can be inseminated either by a bull or artificially. Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage of bull insemination is a high coverage rate. After all, animals themselves are able to determine the ideal time for productive mating. Also, bulls are always on hand, most cow owners keep them for meat. The disadvantage of this method is the likelihood of infection of the nurse with sexually transmitted diseases. Also, breeders do not recommend breeding cows with bulls of unknown origin, since the offspring may not bedairy.
Artificial insemination, carried out by a qualified specialist, virtually eliminates the possibility of a cow contracting venereal diseases. The resulting offspring usually have much more potential than mothers. It is possible to choose the material of a bull that gives medium-sized calves, which is important for primiparous cows. It is normal for a cow to have a mucous discharge after insemination.
Waiting for offspring
How long does a cow's pregnancy last? Childbirth is a rather complicated process, they will come only when the animal's body is completely ready for them. Therefore, the terms of pregnancy can differ both in plus and in minus. Usually, farmers are concerned about how to determine the pregnancy of a cow and how long it takes before giving birth. On average, a cow's pregnancy lasts 285 days.
This does not mean that it is after this amount of time that calving will begin. Some cows always walk over, others, on the contrary, do not carry. It all depends on individual characteristics, the quality of care, a balanced diet. But if the calving is much delayed, then you must definitely invite a doctor. This is due to the fact that the baby in the womb grows and becomes larger every day. When the fetus is too large, the cow may have difficulty calving and will need help.
Is it possible to determine pregnancy without a veterinarian?
Not all villages have a doctor, so people often have to determine the pregnancy themselves. There are a fewmethods, but each of them is the most optimal for a specific period. The owner must know how long the cow's pregnancy lasts and when it was inseminated. It is optimal to use several methods at once, so the result will be more accurate.
The most popular ways to determine pregnancy:
- using cow's milk;
- pregnancy test;
- palpation;
- rectal examination;
- donating blood for analysis.
One of the most accurate methods is ultrasound. With the help of the device, you can see the presence of fruits and their number. Unfortunately, this diagnostic method is not available to most villagers.
Visual signs of pregnancy
How to tell if a cow is pregnant? You can focus on the visual signs of pregnancy. Particular attention should be paid to discharge from the vulva. During pregnancy, they become transparent and viscous. In the last stages of pregnancy, the abdominal wall, legs, and udder swell in animals.
Some experts who focus on the visual signs of pregnancy in a cow recommend paying attention to the coat. In covered cows, under the influence of hormones, it becomes smooth and shiny. Barren cows may have a raised and dull coat.
In animals during deep pregnancy, the shape of the abdomen changes a lot: its right side becomes larger than the left. Some individuals during pregnancy do not want to give milk to the owner, and milking cows turns into torture. This is another indirect sign that the cow is covered.
How to feel a calf in a cow's belly?
After 4 months of pregnancy, you can try a manual diagnostic method. With this method, the owner or veterinarian tries to feel the fetus with their hands through the right abdominal wall. Care must be taken with this method so as not to harm the cow and calf.
The right hand is placed on the back of the nurse, and the left hand is pressed on her abdominal wall below the hungry hole by 45 centimeters. Make a few pushes and stop. The hand does not need to be removed, it remains in the same place. After a while, the owner may feel the calf kick. The longer the gestation period of a cow, the more noticeable they will be.
This method is useless before 4 months of pregnancy as the wearer will most likely not feel anything. It is necessary to carry out diagnostics before feeding the animal, since it is possible to confuse the work of the stomach with fetal tremors. This method is more suitable for experienced cow owners, as beginners may not understand anything.
Determining pregnancy with milk
This method has been used since the last century. The owner must milk the cow and bring fresh milk home. Then a clean glass is prepared, into which water is poured. After the owner should drop a drop of fresh milk there. If the cow is pregnant, then it will dissolve without a trace in the water as it is immersed in it. If the cow is barren, then a milky cloud will remain on the water from above.
There is another old method that is not used on cow farms, but is quite popular in the villages. For diagnosticsthe owner must get the wet nurse's milk. You also need medical alcohol, it will need 5 ml. Milk is poured into the test tube, it should be steamed. After that, alcohol is also poured there, and then shaken vigorously. If the cow is pregnant, then it will take 5 minutes to curdle the milk, if it is dry, then 20.
Pregnancy test
How to determine the pregnancy of a cow with high accuracy? A pregnancy test will come to the aid of the owner. It is very easy to use, such diagnostics will not take much time. This method is not often used in villages, but is already gaining popularity on cow farms.
To start the diagnosis, you need to get the urine of the animal. It should be morning, the minimum volume is 10 ml. It is impossible to feed a cow before sampling! After that, you need to pour urine into a vial with a pregnancy test and mix the substances well. Then the reaction will begin, which will go on for 10-15 minutes. At the end of it, it will become clear whether the cow is pregnant or barren. The study is completely safe for the cow and calf.
Rectal method
This method is considered to be the most accurate. It can be carried out from 1-2 months after coating. For an experienced veterinarian, it will not be difficult to distinguish a pregnant uterus from a dry one. During the examination, the doctor can also identify gynecological problems in the wet nurse.
Diagnosis is carried out with a gloved hand, which is pre-disinfected. Before the procedure, it must also be lubricated with either Vaseline or a greasy cream. The glove must be verylong, as the hand is inserted into the anus of the cow to the elbow. The study should be carried out either by a veterinarian or an experienced livestock owner. Diagnosis is best done in the morning, immediately after milking the cow.
The cow's pregnant uterus goes inside the abdominal cavity. It is enlarged in size, according to this parameter, the approximate term of pregnancy is determined. If the study is carried out in the second half of pregnancy, then the doctor can feel the nodes through which nutrients are delivered to the fetus. By their size, the doctor can also roughly determine the duration of the cow's pregnancy.
Changes in blood chemistry
Already in the first month of pregnancy, the hormonal background of the cow begins to change. The owners may not yet notice that the behavior of the nurse has changed, and the laboratory workers are already able to determine her pregnancy. To do this, you need to take either blood or milk for analysis.
In the laboratory in these substances they will try to find specific hormones that are produced only in the body of cows during pregnancy. This requires special equipment and medical reagents, so this study cannot be carried out at home.
However, this method is only suitable for cows that have calved more than 3 months ago. If the study is carried out earlier, then it may be unreliable, since the hormones have not yet returned to normal after the last pregnancy. This method is very convenient, as it has good efficiency and helps to detect pregnancy already for a period of 1 month. But unfortunately it is available.not all villagers.
Diagnosis with an ultrasound machine
Ultrasound in cities has long been used to detect pregnancy in dogs and cats. In the countryside, this is not yet very common, since not every village clinic can afford to buy these devices.
In order to conduct an ultrasound examination of a cow, portable units are usually used. They are lightweight and very accurate. Using this type of diagnosis, you can not only determine the presence of pregnancy, but also calculate the number of fetuses. Also, thanks to ultrasound, some pathologies of calves can be determined even before they are born.
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