For a cow to give milk, she must give birth to a calf. Pregnancy in cattle lasts a long time; the animal can give birth to only one litter per year. It also needs to happen every year. Let's look at how to find out at home whether a cow is pregnant or not, what determines the duration of pregnancy. Why does a cow pace, how to correctly calculate the date when she will give birth.
How long does a cow's pregnancy last normally?
Knowing whether a cow is pregnant or not is necessary to properly feed and care for the animal during this period. How the calf will develop and how the mother will feel depends on this. To determine the period, you need to know how many days the cow carries the fetus so that you can prepare for calving in time.
Heifers are born for the first time when they are 16-18 months old, cows are born in their first heat after calving. The duration of pregnancy in cattle is 250-310 days. As you can see, the spread is large and amounts to 8 weeks. The duration of pregnancy, on average, is 280 days, but even in the same animal, each pregnancy lasts differently each time. The period is counted from the date of mating. Deviation in both directions is allowed for 2 weeks.
How long can a cow walk?
Despite the standard gestation period of 9 months, pregnancy can last longer. The female can walk for 2 or even 3 weeks. This is due to the developmental characteristics of the calf and the mother’s body, as well as the fact that with natural insemination it is not always possible to determine with certainty the date when conception occurred.
In order to have time to prepare the animal for calving, it is advisable to keep a calendar where the mating date will be noted. You need to add 280 days - this is approximately how long a cow walks, this will be the expected calving date.
What factors does the period depend on?
The pregnancy period is influenced by feeding, living conditions, age, breed, and health of the pregnant woman. An animal belonging to large breeds carries a calf longer. The gestation period increases by several days if the cow is covered by a large bull, so the fetus inside her is also large.
It is most difficult to expect term births from first-calf heifers, older animals or those with medical conditions.
How to determine if a cow is pregnant at home
There are many ways to do this. You can check whether a cow is covered by bringing a bull to her every day. If she does not react to him and avoids mating, then we can assume that she is pregnant. This is what the probe bull method is based on. The fact that a cow has become covered can also be determined by its behavior: it shows no signs of estrus for more than a month, its appetite increases, the animal becomes calmer, and moves less.
Pregnancy can be accurately determined by ultrasound, rectal examination, and laboratory testing of blood and urine. These methods cannot be implemented at home; you will have to contact a veterinarian. The accuracy of ultrasound examination is above 95%, and the gestational age can also be determined. The rectal method is still one of the main methods in animal husbandry for determining pregnancy. It is effective even in the early stages, when visual signs are not yet observed. If an animal cannot become pregnant for a long time, with a rectal examination the doctor can determine why this is happening.
You can purchase pregnancy test strips from veterinary pharmacies. The strip is placed in urine or milk. Test strips for humans cannot be used in this case. In the laboratory, pregnancy can be determined using milk. It is sold 19-23 days after mating.If progesterone, produced by the cow’s body during pregnancy, is detected in the milk, we can confidently assume that the cow is pregnant.
After 5-6 months, pregnancy can be determined visually by the protruding lower part of the side on the right. The easiest way to determine pregnancy is in the last month. They are trying to determine pregnancy using milk at home. To do this, mix 5 ml of milk and alcohol in one container. If milk is taken from a pregnant cow, it will curdle within a maximum of 3-5 minutes. If it is yalovaya, this will take more than 20 minutes. The effectiveness of such a test is 70%, so it is advisable to confirm its result using more accurate methods.
How to calculate calving date
First of all, you need to note the date of mating. Add 280 days + 15 days that the cow can walk. You need to wait for calving within these 2 weeks. If the deadline has passed and the calf has not been born, you need to contact a veterinarian, as this may indicate some problems with the health of the animal.
How many calves can a cow give birth to at one time?
Like all large animals, a cow gives birth to one calf. The gender distribution is approximately equal. It can give birth to twins, calves are of different or the same sex, heifers or bulls. Twins are rarely born, triplets are even rarer.
In exceptional cases there may be four, five or more calves. This is almost always the result of artificial insemination or the consequences of treatment when the cow is given drugs that stimulate oestrus. With natural mating, at best, the result is twins.
The ability to plan pregnancy and birth of cattle will be useful to any livestock breeder. Knowing how long a cow carries a calf and what deviations there may be, you can calculate the calving date and prepare for it.During this period of time, you need to carefully monitor the animal so as not to miss signs of an approaching birth. This is necessary so that, if necessary, you can be close to the animal and help during difficult childbirth.
