Last week we did our annual pregnancy check to see who was bred. All the cows get run through our corral and squeeze chute. While it is possible to run the cows through by myself, I had some helpers to make it go faster.
Our vet uses an ultrasound machine to check whether each cow is pregnant. With it he can also tell us how many days the cow has been bred for, which gives us an approximate due date. We checked 42 cows and heifers, of which 40 were pregnant. We had a few cows bred later in the season than we would like but most are due to calve in May and June.
A well designed handling system goes a long way toward keeping cows and people safe and happy. We added a few improvements to our corral over the summer, which made catching and moving cows easier than ever. Working cows is a fun job when everything goes smoothly.
Thanks for reading,
Leith, Mary Kate, Norah & Edith MacKenzie
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