We recently used the BioPRYN blood test method to preg check the cows we AI bred earlier this year before turning them in with the bull. It could not have gone smoother for us, so I wanted to talk a little about our experience, and see what some of you had to say about it. I highlighted some of the advantages and disadvantages we found with the blood pregnancy testing below.
Advantages of the blood test method:
- Simple, quick, clean sampling. The tail bleeding was very easy to do. We only had trouble with one cow, and the process was much cleaner that palpating.
- You can test earlier. You only have to wait 30 days after breeding.
- Quick results. We received the results of our test the same day the samples were delivered to the lab. Obviously, this isn’t as quick as the immediate response you get with palpation, but you can also sample cattle on your own time, instead of working with your veterinarian’s schedule (if you don’t palpate yourself).
- It seems to be highly accurate. Of course, we won’t find out for ourselves until calving season, but the results we read about seem promising. We were trying to sell a bred cow (assuming she was bred) the same week, and wanted to be accurate with the preg check to avoid an unhappy customer.
Disadvantages of the blood test method:
- Only gives the result of open or bred. The blood tests cannot reveal how far along each cow is. For our purposes, this wasn’t necessarily a big issue. Since all the cows we checked were AI bred, we had an exact breeding date anyway.
- Waiting for samples to travel through the mail. There are only a handful of facilities that can do the testing. Unless you live close to a BioPRYN affiliate that can run the test, you have to mail in your samples. It took ours two days to travel from Arizona to Kansas, even though it was sent “overnight”.
If you are thinking about using the blood testing method to preg check your own cows, CattleMax does have the proper record fields to enter the results in your Pregnancy Check History or Pregnancy and Breeding History screen.
Have you already tried the blood test method to preg check in your herd? If so, what did you think? What are some of the advantages and disadvantages you found?
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