Isn't it good to know the parents of calves before they are born? Through fetal male and female identification, it can be determined whether a calf is a bull or a heifer in the uterus. Fetal male female identification is a non-invasive surgery that uses transrectal ultrasound examination to examine pregnant cows or calves to determine the male and female of the calf (or calf) she is carrying.

Understand the process of fetal paternity testing

Cattle measured by B-ultrasound machine for male and female

The technician, wearing gloves, gently guided the cow into the rectum of the restrained cow using a B-ultrasound probe. Position the probe at the bottom of the rectal wall and operate until a clear image of the fetus is obtained. Firstly, visualize the main body parts (head, trunk, limbs, etc.) to determine the direction of the fetus. Then, technicians scan the vicinity of the umbilical cord and below the tail to locate high echo genital nodules.

Reproductive nodules are a structure present in developing fetuses, with the nodules located behind the navel representing bulls and calves, and the nodules located below the tail representing calves. Depending on the stage of pregnancy, technicians may also attempt to observe scrotal swelling to help determine the gender of the calf.

B-ultrasound images of male and female calves

Advantages of fetal paternity testing

Marketability of breeding cattle

Some producers have greater motivation to produce heifers or calves. For example, in the dairy industry, the market for heifers is usually much stronger than that for calves, and for commercial beef producers, calves may be more valuable than heifers. Therefore, when breeding females are sold and the male and female fetuses are known, their value in a specific market may greatly increase.

Convenient management

Knowing how many bulls and calves are expected to give birth can help producers quickly initiate future plans. Producers who keep their breeding females can determine if they need to budget for additional alternatives. For a cowherd who promotes bulls, he can start negotiating and filling out bull contracts earlier. When purebred breeders sell to ensure the minimum number of pregnancies for a specific male and female pair, the fetus conducting a male female identification of the calf carried by the recipient will let her know if the agreement has been fulfilled or if the donor needs to be re fertilized.

Important considerations for fetal parents

time frame

Although fetal paternity testing can provide valuable information for cattle breeders, the time window within which it can be conducted is limited. Due to the migration of reproductive nodules around the 50th day of pregnancy, it is not possible to distinguish between bull calves and heifers through ultrasound before this. The earliest time for any degree of fetal paternity testing is 55 days, although many technicians advocate waiting until the reproductive nodules complete migration around the 60th day of pregnancy. On the other hand, fetal males and females usually need to complete it before 90 days of pregnancy. Beyond this point, the fetus is usually too deep in the abdominal cavity to be reached by an ultrasound probe, or too large to obtain satisfactory images. Although fetal parents can exceed 90 days, can they be certain that it is a gamble.

accuracy

The accuracy of fetal paternity testing is mainly attributed to the time frame of the testing and the skills and confidence of the technical personnel. When performed by skilled technicians between 60 and 90 days of pregnancy, the accuracy of fetal paternity testing should be at least 95%.