Estancia Chinchorro, Formosa: Cow Reproduction

This is a cow's reproductive system. Today I had my arm elbow deep into three cows to feel if the were pregnant or not. The vet performed this examination on all 205 cows of a small herd.

The reproductive system of a cow works as follows. The cow ovulates every 21 days approximately. At the ranch, the bulls are put with the cows for springtime mating season in October, November and December - all conception happens naturally on the ranches which I didn't expect since artificial insemination is very popular in Canada. The sperm enters both uterus horns to fertilize an egg that will have been dropped into the top of the oviduct, the trumpet, of one of the uteri. Typically pregnancy happens in the right uterus since the cow's rumen is near the left uterus and its activity increases the temperature of this uterus which makes it less likely for conception to happen there.

When I reached into the three cows it was to feel three different situations. In the first, the cow was already about 120 days pregnant which for this time of year is very developed, which meant that the fetus was quite large. I put my hand in (wearing a shoulder high plastic glove) and with my fingers felt a small round hardness in a soft liquid filled sac. Basically if I tapped the small hardness, it would bounce down and then back up. This was the fetus in the amiotic fluid in the uterus. In the second cow, which was not pregnant, I felt the uterus wall. The cow was very skinny so it was apparently easier to feel that there wasn't any pregnancy present. The uteran wall felt spongy like a muscle. In the third cow, also not pregnant, I felt the cervix which is very hard and the length of maybe three fingers.

It was very interesting for me to feel inside a cow. Shit is everywhere, in my case blood to because I had my arm under the vet's arm so he could guide my fingers and try to explain what I was feeling, and the inside of a living creature is so mysterious to me. The vet, Diego, was very quick with each animal, and he says the hardest part of the job is to distinguish between non-pregnant and a small (early) pregnancy.

So what are the logistics required to make this examination all possible? First we gathered five gauchos from the two estancias. Three we brought in the pick-up in the morning and two were already onsite with the animals carralled into different pens and a fire with branding irons being heated.

The cows are guided from a paddock into a narrow channel which forces them into a single line between two sliding gates. When the gates are closed, the cows are unable to move forward or backwards, and they are given two vaccinations and branded with a number 1 from above. The vaccinations are to prevent miscarriages and provide nutrients, one pink and one white, shot into the neck of the cows with a vaccination gun (I also got to do this), and the number 1 branding iron hot from the fire indicates that this cow has birthed one calf.

Once the cows are vaccinated and branded, the front door opens and one cow is let forward, then trapped by wood restraints that close around the cows neck and hips. At this point the vet, Diego, goes behind the cow and reaches in to examine for a pregnancy. If the cow is pregnant it is released and directed to a paddock with other pregnant cows. If the cow is not pregnant, it is branded again with a big X beside the number one to show that it was not successful at getting pregnant and separated into a paddock with other non-pregnant cows. I also got to brand a cow today!















The process was quite smooth. Four cows escaped into the non-pregnant paddock between getting vaccinated and being examined, which meant that we had to filter through the non-pregnant herd a second time to isolate the unexamined cows. During this process one of the four escaped again, which meant it had to be chased down and lassooed by the gauchos to be examined.

I think it is funny to be working with gauchos, sort of like a South American cowboy. These men live in outdoors and work with cattle on horseback. They even have a type of style with broad-rimmed hats, stripped canvas chaps, canvas shoes, dress shirt and neck scarf. Many work barefoot too including one of the guys today which I couldn't believe.

Apparently, Johnny says that the invention of the cellphone and the motorcycle changes the gaucho lifestyle completely. Alcoholism has always been a problem among the gaucho population, but now access via communication and rapid transportation makes the alcoholism more damaging.