How to Identify Pregnancy Through Rectal Palpation in Cows and Heifers

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How to Identify Pregnancy Through Rectal Palpation in Cows and Heifers
How to Identify Pregnancy Through Rectal Palpation in Cows and Heifers

Video: How to Identify Pregnancy Through Rectal Palpation in Cows and Heifers

Video: How to Identify Pregnancy Through Rectal Palpation in Cows and Heifers
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The identification of pregnancy in cows is done by a very common and popular method for cattle called rectal palpation. Rectal palpation is the simplest, cheapest and often fastest form of pre-pregnancy check that can be easily learned by anyone who raises cows. The following steps will show you how to properly pre-check a cow or heifer.

Steps

Detect Pregnancy in Cows and Heifers with Rectal Palpation Step 1
Detect Pregnancy in Cows and Heifers with Rectal Palpation Step 1

Step 1. Confine the cow

Place the cow on a narrow ramp or brete with exits on both sides to prevent it from moving from one side to the other.

Detect Pregnancy in Cows and Heifers with Rectal Palpation Step 2
Detect Pregnancy in Cows and Heifers with Rectal Palpation Step 2

Step 2. Put on suitable clothing

An obstetric uniform or overalls are the best attire for this job. However, older clothes, which you don't mind getting dirty, will do.

Detect Pregnancy in Cows and Heifers with Rectal Palpation Step 3
Detect Pregnancy in Cows and Heifers with Rectal Palpation Step 3

Step 3. Put on gloves

Wear latex gloves that are long, have fingers, and reach your shoulders. Place the glove on the arm you will use for rectal palpation. Preferably use the strongest arm.

Detect Pregnancy in Cows and Heifers with Rectal Palpation Step 4
Detect Pregnancy in Cows and Heifers with Rectal Palpation Step 4

Step 4. Lubricate yourself

Apply a handful of lubricant to your hand and spread the product so that it is evenly distributed throughout your hand.

Detect Pregnancy in Cows and Heifers with Rectal Palpation Step 5
Detect Pregnancy in Cows and Heifers with Rectal Palpation Step 5

Step 5. Penetrate

Grab the tail with one hand (the one with the glove), hold it above your head (see photo above) and, with the glove, make a shape of a puppet mouth with your closed hand (the tip of the thumb along with all four tips of the other fingers), and with the tips of your fingers forming a 45 to 60 degree angle, penetrate the cow's rectum.

You'll have to push hard, because the cow will try to stop you and push you out. Keep your wrist steady and in line with the rest of your arm and let your elbow slightly bent so you have enough strength to penetrate the cow's rectum

Detect Pregnancy in Cows and Heifers with Rectal Palpation Step 6
Detect Pregnancy in Cows and Heifers with Rectal Palpation Step 6

Step 6. Remove stool that makes penetration difficult

If the rectum is full of stool, with your spoon-shaped hand, carefully remove the loose stool material and pull your hand far enough to expel the stool. Take enough to make room towards the animal's uterus.

Detect Pregnancy in Cows and Heifers with Rectal Palpation Step 7
Detect Pregnancy in Cows and Heifers with Rectal Palpation Step 7

Step 7. Locate the cervix

It will be under your hand, as will the rest of the female bovine's reproductive tract. You have to feel a cylindrical shape in the way of penetration. If you've got your whole arm inside the cow and you still can't find the cervix, you've gone too deep. Withdraw your hand until you feel the cylindrical part just below your fingers.

Detect Pregnancy in Cows and Heifers with Rectal Palpation Step 8
Detect Pregnancy in Cows and Heifers with Rectal Palpation Step 8

Step 8. Penetrate more

If you have short arms, you'll need a stool to climb on, or you'll have to reach up to your shoulder to feel something in the cow's fallopian tubes or uterus.

Detect Pregnancy in Cows and Heifers with Rectal Palpation Step 9
Detect Pregnancy in Cows and Heifers with Rectal Palpation Step 9

Step 9. Feel the fetus and uterine tract

If you feel the uterus dilated, with a small oval liquid ball floating inside it, or something that looks like a fetus, then you have found that the cow is pregnant. The cow is not pregnant if you feel nothing but the uterus.

  • With practice, you will be able to identify whether the cow is pregnant or not. It is often best to palpate 2-5 months into the cow's gestation period. That way you'll know you're feeling something bigger than an ovary, the size of a golf ball. The sizes you identify are related to the gestation period the cow is:

    • 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 big cat;
    • 6 months - the size of a small dog;
    • 7 months - the size of a Beagle dog.

      These sizes are good parameters if you suspect your cow has miscarried

  • A more experienced veterinarian or cattle keeper who has done many rectal palpations on cows will be more accurate than those who have done this only a few times. Therefore, the more practice or more opportunities to do rectal palpations in cattle, the more accurate you will be.
Detect Pregnancy in Cows and Heifers with Rectal Palpation Step 10
Detect Pregnancy in Cows and Heifers with Rectal Palpation Step 10

Step 10. Remove the arm and release the cow

Once you've determined whether the cow or heifer is pregnant and how long, pull your arm out and release the animal. Repeat the process with another cow or heifer.

Detect Pregnancy in Cows and Heifers with Rectal Palpation Step 11
Detect Pregnancy in Cows and Heifers with Rectal Palpation Step 11

Step 11. Discard the glove after finishing palpation

Tips

  • There are many other indications that the cow is pregnant besides touching a fetus and/or an enlarged uterus.

    • The position of the ovaries can change as the pregnancy progresses, pulling them further into the abdominal cavity.
    • Between 5, 5, and 7, 5 months it may be more difficult to feel the fetus as it may have descended deeper into the abdominal cavity. If you can reach deep enough, you will be able to feel the fetal head or flexed limbs.
    • From 7, 5 months until the end of pregnancy, it may be a little easier to feel the fetus. However, some cows may have such a deep body structure, a consequence of having had many other calves before, that it will still be difficult to feel the fetus. Touching the cotyledons in the placenta is one way to determine pregnancy; touching the uterine veins is another method as they will be larger and will have a strong pulse when palpated.
  • The best way to determine your date of birth is to keep good breeding records. If you know when a cow has bred and if it became pregnant, you will have a good idea of when the calf will be born.
  • You may want to take an artificial insemination course provided by a company that sells bull semen to cattle producers to gain a better understanding and better instruction (and practice) on how to determine pregnancy in cows. Since artificial insemination involves the same "invasive" procedures as described above, you will likely learn how to perform a rectal palpation to determine pregnancy along with teachings on how to artificially inseminate cattle.
  • Practice leads to perfection. Don't expect to be able to identify if the cow is pregnant right away, as you'll have to grope the animal for a few minutes before actually finding anything.
  • Some producers, veterinarians and your artificial insemination instructor will prefer to change gloves for each cow to prevent the spread of reproductive diseases such as trichomoniasis. This is often good hygienic practice that we should adopt to prevent the spread of disease from one cow to another.
  • Observation is another method of determining pregnancy in cows. Things like an increase in the size of the belly during late pregnancy, changes in the teats, or a swelling along the belly just before the teats develop.

    If you have observed and recorded your cows' regular estrous cycles and you think they have missed one, two or more estrous cycles, this is another indication of pregnancy

  • If you don't have the experience or don't have the time to learn rectal palpation, call a local veterinarian who has experience with large animals to do it for you. Make sure the practitioner has done a lot of work on large animals such as cattle and horses. This way, you will have less chance of error than if you hire a professional who only does this type of work occasionally.
  • A cow's anus is located above the vulva, which is a slit below the anus. You need to penetrate the cow's anus, not the vulva, to properly palpate the rectum.

Notices

  • Enter the correct "hole". If it penetrates the vulva, you can cause a miscarriage, as it can take mucus or palpate the fetus too much.

    Too strong a rectal palpation can even cause a miscarriage or death of the fetus, because you can damage the brood's connection to the cow's uterine wall. Be firm but gentle, and don't overdo it or be too aggressive during palpation

  • Don't take your hand away too fast or you'll end up with a lot of cow dung on your body. Withdraw it slowly and comfortably, allowing the anus to naturally close as you withdraw your hand.
  • Some cows can be a little less tolerant than others if you stick your arm in their rectum. You might get kicked, or the cow might suddenly decide it wants to move or lie down with your arm still inside it. Try to follow her movements as best you can, but remember the risk of pulling a muscle in your arm or even breaking it if things really get out of hand.
  • If you are easily disgusted by things like fresh, smelly cow droppings or having to grope your animals, give up. Hire a large animal veterinarian to do this for you.

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