Content

• Steps
• Tips
• Warnings
• What do you need

Checking cows for pregnancy is a very common and popular method for cattle called rectal palpation. Rectal palpation is not the cleanest, but the cheapest and fastest way to check if a cow is pregnant. This method can be easily learned by cow farmers. The steps below will teach you how to properly test a cow or heifer for pregnancy.

Steps

1. 1 Limit the cow's freedom of movement. Place the cow in a trough or pen with gates on both sides where she cannot move from side to side.
2. 2 Put on your overalls. An obstetric uniform or overalls are best for this job. However, if you have old clothes that you are not afraid to get dirty, they will work too.
3. 3 Put on your gloves. Place a shoulder-length latex glove on the arm (preferably on the strongest arm) that you will be performing rectal palpation.
4. 4 Apply grease. Apply a small amount of obstetric lubricant to your hand and rub in so that it is on both sides of the hand and above the arm.
5. 5 Insert your hand. Lift the cow's tail with one hand (the one that is not wearing gloves), lift it above the head (see photo above) and with the hand that is in the glove, make a figure resembling the closed mouth of a doll (the thumb touches the pads of all four fingers), and holding your fingers at a 45-60 degree angle, enter the cow's rectum.
   • You will have to force entry because the cow will tense up trying to push you out. Tighten your wrist and keep it in line with your arm, and bend your arm slightly at the elbow so that you have enough strength to enter the cow's rectum.
6. 6 Remove faeces that take up too much space. If there is a lot of stool in the rectum, carefully collect the stool with your hand and push it out.Pull out the feces so you have enough room to go up and find your cervix.
7. 7 Find your cervix. It will be at your fingertips, just like the other genitals of the cow. You will feel a cylindrical organ, which is hard to the touch. If you put your hand into the cow up to shoulder level but can't find the cervix, you've gone too far. Extend your hand back until you feel the cylindrical organ with your fingers.
8. 8 Insert your hand deeper. If you have short arms, you will need to stand on a stool or place your arm up to your shoulder to reach the fallopian tubes or the cow's uterus.
9. 9 Try to find the fetus in the womb. If you feel that the uterus is stretched, and inside it is like a small oval ball with liquid or something that resembles a fetus, then you have determined that the cow is pregnant. If you haven't found anything like this, but just groped for the uterus, then most likely the cow is not pregnant.
   • It takes a lot of practice to learn to identify what you are groping for. It is best to do a pregnancy test between 2 and 5 months of the cow's intended pregnancy, since then you only need to locate an ovary the size of a golf ball to determine the pregnancy. Correspondence of sizes with the month of pregnancy is as follows:
     • 2 months - mouse size
     • 3 months - about the size of a rat
     • 4 months - about the size of a small cat
     • 5 months - about the size of a big cat
     • 6 months - about the size of a small dog
     • the size of a hound
       • These measurements are a good clue if you suspect a cow has miscarried.
   • A veterinarian who has checked cows for pregnancy many times will be more accurate than one who has done only a few of these checks. Therefore, the more you practice, the more often you check your cows for pregnancy, the more accurate your results will become over time.
10. 10 Reach out and release the cow. Once you have determined that the cow is pregnant and how long it is, remove your hand from the cow and release it back into the herd. Repeat the check on another cow.
11. 11 After completing the check, throw the glove into the trash can.

Tips

• There are many other signs that a cow is pregnant besides palpation of the fetus and / or identification of an enlarged uterus.
  • The position of the ovaries can change as pregnancy progresses. They can be located deeper in the abdominal cavity.
  • Between 5.5 and 7.5 months of pregnancy, the fetus is harder to feel because it can move deeper into the abdomen. If you can go far enough, you may feel the fetus's head or flexed limbs.
  • From 7.5 months to the end of pregnancy, it is a little easier to feel the fetus. However, some cows may have long birth canals due to previous pregnancies, and it will still be difficult to palpate the fetus. Palpation of the cotyledons on the placenta is another way to determine pregnancy; feeling the veins on the uterus is another way, since they will be larger and will pulsate strongly on palpation.
• The best way to determine the expected due date is to keep a livestock insemination record. If you know when a cow was inseminated and if she became pregnant, then you have a good chance of knowing exactly when she will give birth.
• You can take a course on artificial insemination, which is usually provided by companies that sell bull semen to cattle breeders, so that they better understand the process of checking cows for pregnancy and master the technique of this process.
• Practice, practice, practice. Don't expect everything to work out right away. It is possible that you will be able to find something only a few minutes after you begin to palpate the cow from the inside.
• Some breeders and veterinarians prefer to change gloves between different cows checks to prevent the spread of genital infections like trichomoniasis.This is a good hygiene practice that is good to follow to prevent the spread of disease from one cow to another.
• Observation is another way of determining pregnancy in cows. Signs such as an increase in abdominal size at the end of pregnancy, changes in the udder, or swelling along the abdomen just below the udder may indicate pregnancy.
  • If you've monitored and regularly recorded information about a cow's sex cycle and found that she missed one, two, or more cycles, then this is another indication of pregnancy.
• If you have no experience in this business or do not have time to learn how to test cows for pregnancy, you can ask your veterinarian to do it for you. Make sure he has done this many times on large animals such as cattle and horses to reduce the chance of error.
• The cow's anus is located above the vulva, which is a slit below the anus. To test a cow for pregnancy, you must go into the cow's anus, not the vulva.

Warnings

• Make sure you go into the correct hole. Entering the vulva can potentially lead to an abortion, as you can pull the mucous plug out of the cervix or palpate the fetus too hard.
  • Too vigorous palpation through the rectal wall can cause abortion or fetal death because you can tear the connective tissue between the fetus and the cow's uterine wall. Be firm but gentle at the same time. Do not use excessive force during palpation.
• Don't pull your hand out too quickly, or you will end up covered in cow dung. Extend your hand slowly and gently to allow your anus to close naturally.
• Some cows may show their dissatisfaction more clearly than others. The cow may kick you, or it may decide to step back or lower while your hand is still inside. Try to move with her as much as you can, but you risk pulling a muscle in your arm or even breaking your arm if the situation really gets out of control.
• If you are uncomfortable with smelly cow dung and rectal palpation of a cow, or if the mere thought of doing it makes you mad, then don't do it. Better to have a cattle veterinarian do it.

What do you need

• Latex gloves with fingers, shoulder length (if necessary, you can purchase a bag of 100 or more gloves)
• Overalls or midwife uniforms (especially if you don't want your clothes to get dirty)
• Obstetric lubricant
• Gate with end gutter
• Cow / heifer to be checked for pregnancy