ultrasounding cows

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K_State_Katy

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Mar 3, 2008
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Manhattan, KS / West Point, GA
My dad manages a lot of cattle sales and the blood test thing has been so inaccurate, the only thing that is for sure with the blood test is if it says the animal is not bred it is not...after that your guess is as good as mine. it might be bred, it might not, it might be 30 days, it might be 90 days....I've seen all of these inaccuracies in blood test. Hopefully their technology will get better.
 

DL

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Jan 29, 2007
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jnm said:
At what stage due you ultra sound? I was once told you could only ultrasound in early prenacy.

You can ultrasound any time after 28-30 days - fetal sexing needs to be done after 58 to 60 days (as the genital tubercle is visible then, near the umbilical cord in males and under the tail in females)

you can ultrasound after 90 days but your chance of seeing the calf is less as it falls over the pelvic rim, but you can see placentomes and determine if the cow is pregnant

 

berna21yesha

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Oct 7, 2010
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I never heard about a cow being tested through ultrasound. It may sound interesting to me but I really want to see a personal procedure of it. Is there any recorded successful procedure?
 
Joined
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PA
The blood testing works great for me.  It's been completely accurate.  Of course I know when my cows are bred, so If it comes back pregnant I know how many days bred they are.  I got to see two cows ultrasounded at my friends place, it was really neat to see the little calf on the screen.
 

russfarm

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Feb 20, 2010
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Ohio
Question about the blood testing....if a blood test comes back positive, then is that a given, or could it  be a false positive?  We have a cow that we AI'd quite a few times because she wouldn't take, so when we finally thought we had her, we sent off a blood test and it came back positive, but then our clean up bull keeps riding her.  I am just blaming it on an overly horny bull...lol  ???
 

CAB

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Corning,Iowa
justme said:
I don't have the luxury of having a close tech in my area.  There is a horse vet that does it but she wants $20 a cow.  That is way to much to do a herd.  We palpate and our vet is pretty darn good.  Our closest tech is about 2 hours away that we could find.  Wish he was closer.

Gidget the Tri-County vet Clinic, Clearfield/Lenox,Iowa are really good @ Ultrasounding cattle. They can't be to far from you. I ran the miles. They are 33 miles from Allendale, Mo. Clearfield Ph # 641-336-2828, Lenox,Ia. Ph # 641-333-4433. JD. & Wayne are the 2 owners and are both great techs.
 

CAB

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Show Heifer said:
Ultrasounding: More accurate on breeding date, easier on embryo, less stressful on cows.
Have had it done for the last 13 years and have 98% accuracy on AI vs. bull bred which therefore makes calving season much easier.

Jen, don't you do quite a bit of ultrasounding? Is there a stage of pregnancy that it is hard to get good readings? I have been told that 90 to 120 days is a hard time as the calf is going over the pelvic bone.
 

BadgerFan

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russfarm said:
Question about the blood testing....if a blood test comes back positive, then is that a given, or could it  be a false positive?  We have a cow that we AI'd quite a few times because she wouldn't take, so when we finally thought we had her, we sent off a blood test and it came back positive, but then our clean up bull keeps riding her.  I am just blaming it on an overly horny bull...lol  ???

there's a possibility of false negatives or false positives, but there is also with ultrasound, palpation or voodoo.  For me the blood test works very well.  I pull blood 30-50 days following the synch group and I know what cows are confirmed to AI.  Those that are open on the first round, I recheck 30 days after pulling the bulls.  For me this is a good way to know everything is pregnant, about when to watch for them to calve, and it's a lot cheaper than the vet.  I've had enough vet palpations that were off big time that I won't bother going that route anymore.
 

justintime

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I had 70 head ultrasounded yesterday. It is very accurate and I have had it done for the past two years. For sexing the calves, it is best if it is done from 60-70 days. I did about 100 head last year, and I did all my recips. There were a few that were well over the 70 days pregnant, and the vet said that he could probably sex them but it would involve manipulating the fetus more, and I told him that I would find out what sex they were when they were born. I feel that the more the fetus is manipulated, the bigger chance you have of losing the pregnancy. They guy we used last year, was amazing, as his entire vet practice is only ultrasounding cows, so he had lots and lots of experience. I had some short bred heifers and I was not sure he would be able to tell if they were pregnant or not. I was amazed when he would say " this heifer is 27 days bred, no, I am going to say 26 days bred" When I checked the breeding date he was always right on. On the ones he sexed last year, he was 100% correct. As for the expected calving date, there was some variation to what he said, but this was probably due to other factors that affect gestation length. He was very close.

The vet yesterday could take a picture of any body part, and then calculate the length of pregnancy after we had checked all the cows and heifers. For example, he snapped pictures of the eye of the fetus, or maybe the entire body. By measuring the size of the eye or any other body part, the ultrasound machine calculated the age of the fetus. He said that he had found this to be extremely accurate regardless of the breed involved or the eventual birth weight of the calf. I guess that at these stages of life, fetus size is very similar regardless of breed or bloodlines involved. I have a list of his expected calving dates and I will see how accurate he was, at calving time next spring.

Ultrasound is also excellent for use on problem cows. I have an older donor cow that has probably been flushed too much and I have been having a hard time getting her to hold a pregnancy. The vet checked her yesterday, and was able to tell me that she has some damage to the wall of her uterus, which was probably why she was only staying pregnant part of the term. He said other than that, her reproductive tract looked good and she was cycling normally. She is supposed to be in heat in a few days and I am thinking I may try to pull some single embryos out of her and rest her over the winter. Normally, she would go to market, and that day will come, but she has produced over $100,000 of progeny and embryos, so I may go the extra mile with her.
 

firesweepranch

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Jun 17, 2010
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SW MO
Our vet ultrasounds for $8 a head, and we take them to his place (about 20 minutes away). There is a one time $20 charge for using his facility. He has ultrasounded as soon as 30 days (had a heifer I had a problem with getting stuck AI, so I was going to Lute her and throw her with a bull we had access to for a short time but did not need to since she was bred!) and has gone as far as 90 days (and sexed - but was only 70% sure of the sex since she was so far along - that calf is due any day now so I will know here soon!). So far, he has been 100% accurate on the sex and dates, but I am beginning to wonder with the one due any day now. She is 7 days late today, and he ultrasounded her at 89 days and confirmed her to the AI date (this is our good Collins heifer that won South Central Regionals in 2009). We have no bull, but since we wanted to get her bred, we sent her to a bull a few weeks after her AI date. We chalked her tail and when we picked her up, the chalk was still on her and no riding marks from the bull (unlike the second cow we sent with her). Anyway, I hate the hurry up and wait... wondering if it will be a herd bull baby. She was AI'd to In Dew Time, much better genetics then the herd bull we took her to. ???
Anyway, rambling. We love the ultrasound option.
 
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