Testing to See if Daisy, Rosie, and Clarabelle Will Be Calving This Spring

I can distinctly remember the night that Tricia and I found out that we were going to have our first child.  It was an exciting time!  We went to the store and bought an EPT pregnancy test like the one you see below and when we saw the "+" sign, we were ecstatic.  I remember calling my mom and dad and Tricia's mom and dad and telling them that they were going to be grandparents.

In testing for pregnancy in cows, unfortunately, you can't use an EPT test to determine if the cow is pregnant or 'open.'  Humans, when pregnant, produce a hormone called hCG, that passes into the urine and can be readily detected in a urine test.  Cows do not produce human hormones (obviously) that can be detected in the urine .  Besides, it would be a logistical nightmare to follow Daisy, Rosie, Clarabelle, and Luna trying to get them to pee on the stick every time they lifted their tails.

There are other options:
1.  You can wait until they calve.  Waiting 9 months to determine if they are indeed pregnant causes you to lose a lot of valuable time if the cow was never bred.
2.  You can have the cow palpated.  After 2 months of the cow's exposure to the bull, a veterinarian can come out and palpate your cow.  This will cost you a $50 farm call plus in vet fees.
3.  You can have an ultrasound done on your cow.  This is normally done at the sale barn.  But we aren't selling our cows.
4.  After a month, you can capture a blood sample.  The BioPRYN test tests for a specific protein in the blood to confirm/deny pregnancy.  It costs around $2.50 per test.

We are going to try the BioPRYN test.  We had a friend that lives down the road come and teach us how to take the sample.  The blood sample is taken from a tail bleed.  The first thing you do is lift the tail vertically.  This is a messy job.  The cow will get nervous and she will empty out her intestines and green-grass poop and it will splash all over you.  Trust me, I learned this from experience.

You feel for the vein with your thumb.  Have a syringe and needle handy and be prepared to act fast!

Insert the needle and pull back on the syringe and it should start filling up with blood. 

We quickly captured 2 vials of blood - one from Rosie and one from Daisy.  We tried and tried to obtain a sample from Clarabelle.  We poked her perhaps 25 times.  I'm not exaggerating.  We even tried to get a sample from the vein in her neck.  We were unsuccessful in getting a blood sample from her and have come to the conclusion that she does not have veins - not any that we can find anyway.

We will send the two vials off for testing to an LSU lab in Franklinton, Louisiana and should get a report back soon to determine if the two girls are carrying a calf.  We'll share that report with you when we get it back.  For Clarabelle, we'll have to get our veterinarian to palpate her.  We'll share that news as well.