Several different methods can determine pregnancy in beef cattle:
1. Rectal palpation — usually, an experienced veterinarian can determine pregnancy by this method when cows are at least 40 days pregnant.
2. Ultrasound — an experienced tech can determine a pregnancy as early as 15 days. This is pretty early and around day 15, a lot of things are happening with the embryo.
3. Cows cycle about every 21 days, so you could observe the cows and if they miss a cycle, it is highly likely that the cows are pregnant.
4. One pregnancy test uses blood. You can mail a blood sample to BioTracking in Moscow, Idaho, which is run by Dr. R. Garth Sasser, and pregnancy is determined using a "pregnancy specific protein B" that detects pregnancy as early as 20 days of gestation. There is a fee for testing using BioTrack so you may want to contact the company before sending any sample.

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