Working Ranch Blog

As the semester ends, classes are wrapping up. Students are getting anxious to get outside and away from the classroom. What better way to get outside than learning all about pregnancy checking your cows with a Reproduction Physiologist! Yeah that is right; they have a class for that.

Last week my Animal Reproduction Lab took a trip to the campus dairy to get some experience with cattle palpation (Talk about some “hands-on” learning!) All semester we have observed, dissected, and evaluated bull, cow, heifer, and gilt reproductive tracts to gain a better understanding of the concepts that we are learning in lecture. I can sit and look at that mass on the lab table all day, but that does not mean that I will know what I am feeling when I palpate a cow for the first time. So our final lab of the semester was spent at the dairy learning to locate the cervix of the cow and learn the basics of AIing cows.

Believe it or not, there is a first time for everything. I grew up on a ranch with 1,000 head of Angus cows and my family is in the cattle auction business, but I have never had the experience to pregnancy check cattle. Before you go and call me that kid that stands back and watches everyone else work… I have assisted with several calvings and uterine prolapses, so I am not new to palpation, just used to the end of pregnancy instead of the beginning.

Several students in the class have little to no experience working with cattle, which is becoming more normal in the Animal Science department, so I think it is really cool to see people experience a first encounter with palpation with cows. Most were prepared for it because we had been handling tracts all semester, but a few did squirm a bit when they found themselves in the middle of the manure pile.

Rectal palpation can be for many purposes in the cow, but generally is to determine pregnancy status. Verifying pregnancy status by rectal palpation between days 50 and 150 of gestation can be a great management tool for culling non-pregnant (open) cows or heifers. These skills are also beneficial to programs utilizing Artificial Insemination (AI) and Embryo Transfer (ET).

This lab was only focused on an introduction to checking pregnancy status through palpation, so all students were required to do was located and palpate the cervix of the cow. Our professor also demonstrated the use of an ultrasound to locate and measure follicles, corpora luteum, or follicular/luteal cysts on the ovaries of the cow. The Holstein cow we were using had a follicular cyst present. This was verified by the herd manager when he stated that the cow had failed to breed when showing signs of estrus and would return to showing signs of estrus (called being in heat) every 7 to 10 days.

It ceases to amaze me what I am able to do through my college classes. Who knew that classes like this existed? Did you have a class where you were able to “dive in deep” with your work? Share with me your palpation experience with cattle. You can reach me by email (rjlgoodman@hotmail.com) or on Facebook and Twitter.

Until next time -- ARranchhand

CattleFact: Identifying and culling open cows early in the normal gestation period is a good management strategy for your herd. Strategic culling will reduce the cost of feeding open cows that will not produce a return that year, increase the overall reproductive efficiency of your herd, and create a more uniform calf crop.