Cow thrive on routine, we don't want them to be locked up longer than needed

Cyril Ostridge owns an 80-cow dairy herd in East Sussex. He has been routinely using the IDEXX Alertys™ Milk Pregnancy Test on his whole herd for 18 months, thanks to a recommendation from his milk recorder.

Since then, he has found that the test fits in well with the farm's routine. Cyril is extremely pleased with the convenience, reasonable price, and high accuracy that the tests bring to him and his cows

"Cows thrive on routine, and as we often don’t know what time the Vet will be arriving, we could have the cows locked up for longer than needed. This can cause stress for the cows when they should be back out at pasture. That’s why I started to use the milk pregnancy test - to bring less stress and less handling for both me and my herd. Plus, I experience a success rate of 98% even with the automatic milking system. I’m very satisfied with the test and definitely recommend it to other farmers".

Cyril normally checks his herd for pregnancy every 4 weeks with the milk recording method. He uses the milk pregnancy test first on cows that are at least 60 days of gestation. Cyril also works with his Vet 6 weeks after the first milk check to manage his herd for confirmation testing. He believes this optimises his herd’s fertility because the Vet can see more when the cow is further along in gestation.

"My Vet is also happy that I now use milk pregnancy testing to enhance the cow productivity".