The acquired art of palpation detailed

By MINDY POEHL | Central Texas Edition

Students at an artificial insemination and pregnancy determination school held in Coryell County April 20-22 practice locating the cow's cervix and inserting an insemination tubes inside of the cows. Teachers Dr. L.R. Sprott and Gene Lowe helped the students as did Extension agent, Lyle Zoeller. Photo by Mindy Poehl

April 28, 2005 - Fourteen eager men sat in a classroom at the Coryell County Commission Company listening to Dr. L.R. Sprott, retired Extension livestock specialist, and Gene Lowe, retired C.O.B.A. technician, both of Repro Services, R.L.L.P., teach them about management practices and artificial insemination in cattle.

A.I. is one of the most prevalent ways of receiving cattle with the best genetics. Since A.I. is a sought after process, Sprott and Lowe teach A.I. and pregnancy determination schools across Texas. Coryell County held its annual A.I. and pregnancy determination school April 20-22, which was a hands-on training using live cattle.

Lowe began by teaching the class about the anatomy of cows and the physiology of reproduction. Then, Sprott taught the students how to properly inject the semen and determine if a cow is pregnant.

The technique of inseminating a cow is a skill requiring adequate knowledge, experience and patience. A sterile gun containing the thawed semen is inserted into the vagina and then guided into the cervix by means of a gloved hand in the rectum.

"Move the gun around the cervix. Everything is done by feeling," Sprott explained. "It's small, delicate movements. You can feel the gun come through the cervix into the uterus. Deposit the semen in the body, not the horns of the uterus."

Finding the cervix can be difficult.

"There can be tremendous differences in the size of cervixes," Sprott said. "Brahmans have an odd shaped, odd lengthed cervix."

Sprott said the two main rules of inseminating the cow are 1) getting the gun to the cervix and 2) proper grasp and manipulation of the cervix.

"Be gentle and relax," Sprott stated. "Use minimal manipulation of the insemination gun and always know the location of the gun tip."

Next, Sprott spoke about pregnancy testing.

"This doesn't take much time. You can determine if a cow is with calf as early as 40 days after breeding," Sprott said.

The cow's pregnancies consist of three stages. Stage one is when she is 1 to 3 months pregnant. Stage two is 4 to 6 months pregnant and stage three is six months and beyond.

To feel for a pregnancy, do not touch cattle until the fetus is at least 45 days old. If you feel for a baby too early, you could cause the cow to abort the baby, Sprott explained.

While feeling for the baby, find the uterus and gently press on the horns.

"If she's pregnant, there will be lots of fluid in the horns," explained Sprott. "Feel down deep for a calf. Just because you feel something deep and hard doesn't mean it's a calf. Only feel both horns if you think the cow might be open."

Oftentimes, the fetus will be off to the side or hanging too low to reach. In this case, swipe your hand to each side and down, and move your hand as if dribbling a basketball. This will allow the fetus to roll across your hand.

"Sometimes what you are touching will kick back. You know that is a baby in there," Sprott said. "Sometimes the embryo is underdeveloped and it is difficult to tell if she's pregnant. Feeling the artery is the last resort. There are three arteries around the wall of her hips. The one you can move away from the bone is the one feeding the uterus."

" When you feel it it feels like a surge," Lowe explained. "Don't feel for an artery in stage one. You can't feel it."

Sprott said a fertile cow should produce a calf every year.

"If she misses more than one calf, she is not fertile," Sprott said. "If she's missed her second calf and I know her history, she's gone. You need to cull the non-breeders."

"If you want a quick, effective, dramatic increase, get the non-fertile cows out of your herd," Lowe said. "That's the reason we teach palpation. It will increase your cow/calf herd."

After learning about artificial insemination, feeling for a pregnancy and a lunch break, the men put on their working clothes and began feeling for the cervix in ten live cows. With only one cow in stage one of her pregnancy, the rest of the cows were open and Sprott and Lowe worked with the students. Over the next two days of class, the men were able to work with other cows in different stages of pregnancy.

To contact Sprott and Lowe at Repro Services, call 979-846-4340 or 903-521-7903.