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Faunsdale, AL | Many states have restrictions on who can perform ultrasound on animals they do not own. Look into that before you commit to a machine which you will need that business to pay for.
Ultrasound vendors usually set up booths at World dairy expo, North American Livestock exhibition etc. Many of them have used machines they are reselling.
Another thing you probably realize about those "just breds" is that there is a fairly high embryonic loss rate early in gestation, at least in dairy cows. The earlier you diagnose, the more of that "normal" loss will be included in your keepers.
Just from memory, across several studies, roughly 2/3 to 3/4 of the overall 12-14% pregnancy loss after early ultrasound diagnosis was before 45 days gestation. So your overall accuracy improves dramatically if you check after 45 days, however you do it. Early ultrasound diagnosis or blood test diagnosis probably should be confirmed sometime after 45-60 days to pick up more of those open cows. There will always be a small % that loose their calf after that time, but you'll get most of them.
From my point of view, early ultrasound is very useful for finding the open cow.............when you're going to do something to get her bred. Finding the open cow 2 weeks earlier when you're only going to cull her later in the season isn't worth the trouble. | |
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ultrasound
