Guidelines to implementing pregnancy diagnosis
Aim to conduct a pregnancy diagnosis as soon as possible after either the maximum number of days from the last day of mating has been exceeded, or calves have been weaned from the cows (except in drought when calves have been weaned earlier.
Recommended guidelines for timing of pregnancy testing and diagnosis are:
Heifers
• Ultrasound technology: Minimum – 22–35 days after last day of mating.
or
• Manual palpation: Minimum – 35–50 days after last day of mating.
Cows with calves
• 50 days after last day of mating.
or
• At weaning, at the very latest.
Cull all non-pregnant cows and assess and record reasons for failure to conceive to aid future management decisions.
It is important that pregnancy diagnosis is conducted at the correct time so that infertile heifers can be culled from the herd before they consume valuable high quality pasture. This feed is required by growing animals to increase the throughput of saleable product meeting market specifications.
What to measure and when
• Check for presence of a foetus (or twins) on day of pregnancy diagnosis.
• Estimate age of foetus to allow plotting of calving pattern. This will assist with labour planning for calving supervision.
