Farmer record of pregnancy status pre-slaughter compared with actual pregnancy status post-slaughter and prevalence of gross genital tract abnormalities in New Zealand dairy cows

Abstract

Aims: To record the prevalence of gross abnormalities of the reproductive tract in culled New Zealand dairy cows, to determine how accurately farmers classify the pregnancy status of their animals and to establish if this was influenced by method of pregnancy diagnosis.

Methods: The reproductive tracts from 1134 cull dairy cows were examined after slaughter and evisceration for the presence of gross abnormalities, ovarian activity and pregnancy at a commercial abattoir. The farmers that had submitted these animals for slaughter were surveyed for information about the farm and herd from which each cow was derived and to establish whether the farmer believed each cow to be pregnant or not. The method that had been used to determine pregnancy status was recorded for each animal.

Results: Gross abnormalities were evident in 5.7% of reproductive tracts. Ovarian activity (presence of follicles ≥ 5 mm diameter and/or a corpus luteum) was apparent in 88% of non-pregnant cows. Pregnancy was detected in 39% of cows, of which 2.3% carried twins.The pregnancy status evident at slaughter varied from that reported by farmers in 7.0% of the 954 cows for which farmers were able to provide information. Of the cows that had been examined by palpation or ultrasound per rectum prior to slaughter, 10.3% that were recorded as non-pregnant by farmers were pregnant, and 3.2% of those recorded as pregnant were not. Of the cows that had not been examined, 3.8% of those recorded as non-pregnant by farmers were pregnant while 10.4% of those recorded as pregnant were not. There was no apparent association between gross genital tract abnormalities or ovarian activity and the misclassification of pregnancy status. Amongst cows that were pregnant at slaughter the foetus was significantly smaller in cows that had been recorded as ‘not pregnant’ after palpation or ultrasound examination than in cows that had been recorded as ‘not pregnant’ on the basis of farmer observation only.

Conclusions: The prevalence of gross abnormalities of the reproductive tract was comparable to that reported in similar studies overseas. Farmer observation as a method of pregnancy detection overestimates pregnancy rate. Pregnancy status maybe misclassified or misrecorded following palpation or ultrasound examination of cattle per rectum. Accurate classification of pregnancy status is dependent on the method and timing of pregnancy diagnosis and on minimising errors of diagnosis, cow identification and recording.

Key words::

• Cattle
• dairy cow
• reproduction
• pathology
• pregnancy status
• pregnancy diagnosis