Pregnancy diagnosis in dairy herds
With government guidelines related to social distancing impacting visits by vets and advisors, it is important to remain focussed on herd health and the timely pregnancy diagnosis of dairy cows.
With conception rates regularly below 50 per cent, it is important to recognise non-pregnant cows as early as possible and one method is to test through regular milk samples.
Milk pregnancy testing helps dairy farms shorten the calving interval and reduce the number of days that cows are open. Open cows can have a major impact on profitability.
The CIS PregCheck service helps you manage the reproductive cycle of your herd. From timely breeding to pregnancy confirmation to successful calving, it is a key component on today’s dairy farms. It can help you get herds below the national calving index of 420 days.
Milk samples are tested at the CIS Laboratory in Telford, with testing based on ELISA technology, which detects the presence of Pregnancy Associated Glycoproteins in the sample. It has a 98 per cent level of accuracy. The CIS PregCheck service is offered without any contracts, keeping it simple to use and you can access results on a secure online portal or app.
Bernadette Crayston is the Cattle Information Service area manager
