Pregnancy Diagnosis by Rectal Palpation in Dairy Cows

an Economic Comparison of Four Palpation Schedules

Abstract

Pregnancy diagnosis by rectal palpation is one of the most frequent procedures performed by dairy veterinarians, but very little is known about the economically optimal schedule for palpation. In a practitioner survey, 34 days was the median response for how soon after breeding veterinarians reported routinely palpating cows (see companion abstract). Previous research showed that cows checked later in gestation were more likely to stay in the herd and calve again, but those studies did not address the optimal herd-level schedule. The purpose of this study was to estimate the effect of palpation schedule on days open and culling for four pregnancy diagnosis schedules in herds using only artificial insemination for breeding.