Each owner wants his cow to always wing after the first insemination. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Sometimes the cause is an improperly selected day, and sometimes gynecological problems in Burenka. How to determine a cow’s pregnancy on its own? Every cattle owner should learn this.
Insemination of a cow
In order for the nurse to regularly give milk, she needs to give birth to a calf every year. Cows can be seeded either by bull or artificially. Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage of insemination by the bull is a high percentage of coatings. After all, animals themselves are able to determine the ideal time for a productive mating. Also, bulls are always at hand; most cow owners keep them for meat. The disadvantage of this method is the likelihood of infection of the nurse by sexually transmitted diseases. Also, breeders do not recommend covering cows with bulls of unknown origin, since the offspring may not be dairy.
Artificial insemination, carried out by a qualified specialist, practically eliminates the possibility of infection of a cow with sexually transmitted diseases. Offspring usually have much greater potential than mothers. There is an opportunity to choose the material of a bull that gives medium-sized calves, which is important for primogenous cows. The appearance of mucous secretions in a cow after insemination is normal.
Waiting for offspring
How long does a cow last? Childbirth is a rather complicated process, they will come only when the animal’s body is completely ready for them. Therefore, the duration of pregnancy can vary both in plus and minus. Farmers are usually worried about how to determine a cow’s pregnancy and how much it goes before birth. On average, pregnancy in cows lasts 285 days.
This does not mean that calving will begin exactly after this amount of time. Some cows always walk around, others, on the contrary, do not finish. It all depends on individual characteristics, quality of care, balanced diet. But if calving is very delayed, then you must definitely invite a doctor. This is due to the fact that the baby in the womb is growing and is becoming larger every day. When the fruit is too large, the cow may have difficulty in calving, she will need help.
Is it possible to determine pregnancy without a veterinarian?
Not all villages have a doctor, so people often have to determine pregnancy on their own. There are several methods, but each of them is most optimal for a specific period. The owner needs to know how long the pregnancy lasts for the cow and when it was inseminated. It is optimal to use several methods at once, so the result will be more accurate.
The most popular methods for determining pregnancy:
- using cow's milk;
- pregnancy test;
- palpation;
- rectal examination;
- blood donation for analysis.
One of the most accurate methods is ultrasound. Using the apparatus, 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 determine a cow’s pregnancy? You can focus on 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 specialists who focus on visual signs of pregnancy in a cow recommend paying attention to the coat. In coated cows, it becomes smooth and shiny under the influence of hormones. In spring cows, wool can be reared and dull.
In animals, during the period of deep pregnancy, the shape of the abdomen changes very much: its right side becomes larger than the left. During pregnancy, some individuals do not want to give milk to the owner, and milking the cows becomes torture. This is another indirect sign that the burenka is covered.
How to find a calf in the stomach of a cow?
After the onset of 4 months of pregnancy, you can try the manual diagnostic method. With this method, the owner or veterinarian tries to grope the fetus with his hands through the right abdominal wall. With this method, care must be taken 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 fossa by 45 centimeters. They make a few jolts and stop. The hand does not need to be removed, it remains in the same place. After some time, the owner can feel the tremors of the calf. The longer the cow is pregnant, the more noticeable they will be.
This method is useless to use up to 4 months of pregnancy, since, most likely, the owner will not feel anything. Diagnosis is necessary before feeding the animal, as you can confuse the work of the stomach with tremors of the fetus. This method is more suitable for experienced cow owners, as newcomers may not understand anything.
Determine pregnancy with milk
This method was used in the last century. The owner must milk the cow and bring home fresh milk. Then a clean glass is prepared in which water is poured. After the owner must drop there a drop of fresh milk. If a cow is pregnant, then it will dissolve in water without a trace as it dives into it. If the burenka is ash, then a milk cloud will remain on top of the water.
There is another old method that is not used on cow farms, but is quite popular in villages. For diagnosis, the owner must get the nurse's milk. Also need medical alcohol, it will need 5 ml. Milk is poured into the test tube, it must be paired. After that, alcohol is also poured there, and then they are shaken vigorously. If the cow is pregnant, then it will take 5 minutes to clot the milk, if it’s a cow, then 20.
Pregnancy test
How to determine a cow’s pregnancy with high accuracy? A pregnancy test will come to the aid of the owner. It is very convenient to use, such a diagnosis will not take much time. This method is not often used in villages, but is already gaining popularity on cow farms.
To begin 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 to the analysis fence! Then you need to pour urine into the bottle 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 a pregnant cow or a cow. 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 spring uterus. During the study, the doctor can also identify gynecological problems in the nurse.
Diagnosis is carried out with a gloved hand, which is pre-disinfected. Before the procedure, it is also necessary to lubricate it with either petroleum jelly or a fat cream. The glove should be very long, as the hand is inserted into the cow's anus at the elbow. The study should be conducted either by a veterinarian or an experienced livestock owner. Diagnosis is best done in the morning, immediately after milking the cow.
The pregnant uterus in the cows goes inside the abdominal cavity. It is increased in size, this parameter determines the approximate period of pregnancy. 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. According to their size, the doctor can also roughly determine the period of pregnancy of the cow.
Changes in the biochemical analysis of blood
Already in the first month of pregnancy, the hormonal background of the cow begins to change. The owners may not even notice that the behavior of the nurse has become different, and the laboratory staff 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. For this, special equipment and medical reagents are needed, so this study will not be possible at home.
However, this method is only suitable for cows that stayed more than 3 months ago. If the study is done 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 effectiveness and helps to detect pregnancy already for a period of 1 month. But, unfortunately, it is not available to all villagers.
Diagnostics using an ultrasound machine
With the help of ultrasound in cities, pregnancy in dogs and cats has long been determined. In the countryside, this is not very common so far, since not every village clinic can afford to buy these devices.
In order to conduct an ultrasound examination of a cow, portable installations 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 fruits. Also, thanks to ultrasound, some pathologies of calves can be determined even before they are born.