Pregnancy diagnosis in dairy herds
Cows can experience heat stress at lower temperatures than you might think. Heat stress can have a negative impact on reproductive performance.
Using the CIS PregCheck service can help monitor pregnancy status and reduce handling time.
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. Research has indicated that the average cost per open cow is £4.50 per day. These costs include the value of the milk the cow would have produced, the value of her calf, and other relevant factors.
Therefore, if one cow stays open 20 days longer than expected, the farmer loses £90 on that single cow. Considering a 100-cow dairy farm, this effect can have a tremendous impact and can reduce profitability by as much as £9,000.
The milk pregnancy test detects highly specific markers of pregnancy: Pregnancy-Associated Glycoproteins (PAGs). Unlike progesterone levels that fluctuate naturally during a cycle, PAGs are only produced in the presence of an embryo or foetus.
The test is non-invasive and hassle free by testing samples as part of regular milk recording. Milk samples are tested at the CIS laboratory in Telford, with testing based on ELISA technology, which detects the presence of PAGs 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. You can access results on CIS’s secure online portal or mobile app.
Amanda Wilkes is the area manager for the Cattle Information Service (CIS)
