A really stupid question

[Karen in Alabam]

I have been thinking.

Do those home pregnancy tests work for cows?

We have a young bull, and I never see him getting busy with anyone. Though my neighbor saw him with one cow earlier this fall.

I am most concerned about my Jerseys being bred. I don't want to have a vet come out or take them to a vet.

[agmantoo]

No. The test is species specific.

[G3farms]

I had a bull for two years and never once saw him interested in breeding a cow, but he never missed a single one. I always figured he did his best work in the dark. Also another thought is in the summer bulls will not often breed during the heat of the day, just too hot for them, you will see more activity during cooler colder days also.

[sammyd]

how many cows do you have?
You should notice activity from the other cows as well as the bull.
Note the days and keep track, if you don't notice any activity from either the next month chances are you are in for a calf.
But you need to keep an eye on things. Without that there is no easy or cheap or foolproof way.

[Karen in Alabam]

We have 3 Angus cows, all three calved this year (not from him, but from his father who was sold in August). Two of the calves are 7ish months old., the other is about 3-4 months old.

Both my Jerseys came not bred. Maggie, the one I am milking dropped a calf middle of October. We have had her just a week now. The other one Yo we got the end of August (same day the older bull left--we didn't own him or 2 of the angus cows at that time)

Our bull is just over 2 years old

[haypoint]

Around here, the University Extension Office does bull evaluations. Part of the evaluation is scrotom diameter. In the case of bulls, size matters, I guess. If your bull looks to be about the same size down there as other bulls his age, I wouldn’t worry.

[CarolT]

You can send off a blood sample from the underside of the tail to Biotracking for a pregnancy check if it's urgent to know if they're bred. Depending on how far you live from me, I might can come show you how to do it. :-)

[Tom in TN]

CarolT,

I've asked two vets to teach me how to pregnancy check my cows and both told me, "No". I asked them if they knew of any school that I could attend to learn how and they both said that the only thing they knew about would be to do AI training.

I'd love to learn how to do pregnancy checks. I'm in Middle Tennessee and I believe it might even be a business opportunity for someone to start a training class that taught just that procedure.

Where did you learn how to do it?

Tom in TN

[Karen in Alabam]

Its not urgent for me to know, I just want to know. My cows are basically a hobby. If they calf they calf and if they don't they don't.

My only concern would be for Maggie who I am milking. I have had her a week now. I was told that she should start cycling. They said she would be vocal (she always pitches a fit when she sees me). I don't know enough about cows to know what is going on with them. My concern would be to know when to stop milking her before she delivers. So if I can't tell when she got pregnant, I won't know when to stop.