It's not just what we know... it's how much we care!

What is pregcheck™?

The PREgCHECK™ (NCPD) scheme is a nationally recognised certification system of coloured tail tags showing the pregnancy status of cattle, particularly for sale purposes.

PREgCHECK™ promotes excellence in cattle pregnancy testing skills. PREgCHECK™ examinations can only be performed by an accredited vet, meaning a member of Australian Cattle Vets who has demonstrated knowledge and experience in the pregnancy diagnosis of cattle and undergone an examination by their peers.

WHY ACCURATE PREGNANCY DIAGNOSIS is IMPORTANT:

• Better control of the calving pattern. Identifying empty or later calving cows allows producers to sell them, or run them as separate groups.
• The ability to market stock to generate cash flow at the earliest opportunity or to increase the value of late calving cows by selling them as confirmed pregnant.
• Better reproductive monitoring and herd analysis to allow improved diagnosis, control, prevention and treatment of reproductive diseases.
• Increased profitability. Accurate information about your herd allows better management decisions which directly impacts on profitability. Cattle that are certified as pregnant often attract a premium price.
• Better nutritional and grazing management. Knowing the calving pattern in advance allows strategic use of periods of high pasture availability, appropriate use of supplementary feeding, superior feed budgeting and better control of the stocking rate.
• Better welfare. Knowing the pregnancy status and expected calving date for the pregnant cow allows appropriate monitoring during the pre-calving period, resulting in fewer stock losses.
• Improvements in the fertility of the herd due to better management of herd genetics and culling of appropriate animals.

HOW IS PREGNANCY DIAGNOSIS PERFORMED?

Traditionally, pregnancy diagnosis in cattle is performed via palpation of the uterus, the foetus or the placenta through the rectum. This method is an inexpensive, reliable and accurate diagnostic technique. We also offer ultrasound pregnancy diagnosis in cattle and in most instances will use a combination of manual palpation and ultrasound to pregnancy test your herd, to ensure you are receiving the most accurate service. A skilled manual pregnancy tester can diagnose pregnancy from 35 days after insemination.

ULTRASOUND PREGNANCY TESTING

The optimum time for pregnancy testing with ultrasound is before 14 weeks of gestation and pregnancies can be detected as early as 30 days. Therefore, it is recommended that a monthly pregnancy test is performed. This enables optimum reproductive management of the herd, as well as accurate aging of the growing foetus, meaning we can confidently differentiate between AI & bull matings.

PREgCHECK™ accredited veterinarians have demonstrated accuracy superior to ultrasounds or blood tests alone. A 2014 study of 4,000 cows over 40 properties found 4.4% of pregnancies went undiagnosed by ultrasound alone, confirmed by follow up manual palpation.

to ensure accuracy, cows diagnosed as empty with the ultrasound probe with always be checked manually to confirm. this is essential for accuracy and many non-veterinary ultrasound pregnancy testers do not do this.

Advantages of ultrasound include:

• Speed (herds can be pregnancy tested on a rotary during milking)
• Accurate aging of the foetus
• The potential for foetal sexing
• Less discomfort for the cow and operator

a pregcheck™ accredited vet provides enhanced accountability as they are able to pregnancy test, assess, diagnose and monitor the reproductive outcomes of a beef or dairy herd, to deliver increased farm profitability.

To ensure that your enterprise is getting accurate pregnancy advice, call the clinic on 6557 0000 to enquire about pregnancy testing by one of our ACV Accredited Cattle Vets.