Diagnosis of Pregnancy in Dairy Cows Using Barium Chloride Test

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of pregnancy diagnosis in dairy cows by using barium chloride in urine samples. The investigation was conducted from July 2021 to June 2022. Urine samples were collected from four distinct Upazillas in three districts: Savar in Dhaka, Shivalaya in Manikganj, and Sreenagar and Serajdikhan in Munshiganj, Bangladesh. At three-week intervals, urine samples were collected non-invasively into a plastic test tube that was tightly sealed with a plastic cork. In total, urine samples were obtained from 50 inseminated dairy heifers, with 20 of them located in Sreenagar & Serajdikhan, 15 in Savar, and the remaining 15 in Shivalaya Upazila. The urine samples were transported to the Physiology Laboratory at the Department of Anatomy, Histology, and Physiology, Faculty of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 5 ml of 1% Barium chloride solution was mixed with 5 ml of urine to conduct the barium chloride test. The reproductive status of dairy cows significantly affected the results of the tests, resulting in a success rate of nearly 80% during the first trimester of pregnancy. It was concluded that the Barium chloride test is suitable for pregnancy diagnosis in dairy cows. In brief, the Barium chloride test has the potential to become a standard diagnostic method for pregnancy in cows during the first trimester.