EARLY examination for pregnancy has always been of fundamental importance in the monitoring of fertility in the dairy cow. Many techniques have been employed over the years for early diagnosis by veterinary surgeons and farmers. Failure to come into oestrus has been used by many as a sign of pregnancy, but is unreliable. The most common technique among veterinary surgeons is palpation per rectum, which has been practised in the UK for many years with variable accuracy (see review by Forar and others1994).
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