How to Tell if a Cow Is Pregnant? An Introduction to Common Identification Methods

A cow's pregnancy can be judged by five methods: looking at the eyeball, looking at the oral cavity, looking at the tail, looking at the behavior, and B-ultrasound. Farms with the means can buy a B-ultrasound machine, which allows accurate judgment so that corresponding measures can be taken.

How to Know Whether a Cow Is Pregnant

1. Look at the eyeball

The eyeball method is fairly accurate. It can be observed about one month after the cow is bred. If the cow is pregnant, there are clearly 3 blood vessels directly above its pupil. These vessels are usually thin and not visible, but after pregnancy they become congested and protrude from the surface of the iris, appearing purplish red, very easy to identify.

2. Look at the behavior

When a cow is in heat, it is often excited and restless, and it will bellow loudly and have a poor appetite. Some cows will also keep circling the pen nonstop and be irritable. The duration of estrus varies from cow to cow. If, after breeding following estrus, there is no estrus behavior, the temperament also becomes extremely docile, the appetite increases greatly, and the coat is glossy, this can roughly be judged as pregnancy.

3. Look at the oral cavity

Like the eyeball, looking at the oral cavity is a fairly accurate judgment method. Open the cow's mouth and check the fleshy pads on both sides under the tongue. If the color is found to be bright red, it means the cow is already pregnant; if it is light red or pink, it means it is not yet pregnant.

4. Look at the tail

A cow's tail is usually normally vertical and hanging down, but if the cow is pregnant, its tail is slightly off to the side rather than naturally vertical and hanging down. This method is relatively simple and easy to carry out; it only requires careful observation, and the accuracy is still fairly high.

5. B-ultrasound

If a farm has the means, it will be equipped with a veterinary B-ultrasound machine. This can accurately determine whether the cow is pregnant a month and a half after breeding, and it can also carefully observe the growth status of the fetus and take corresponding measures.