Fetal age assessment for Holstein cattle.

ABSTRACT: Although transport and slaughter of cattle during the last 10% of the gestation period is prohibited in the European Union, such cattle are sometimes sent for slaughter. The late term pregnancy is usually not recognized by the authorities until the uterus is inspected after slaughter and a near term fetus is observed. Accurate post mortem determination of age of bovine fetuses is therefore of major importance as evidence for the subsequent prosecution of the owner. Fetometric measurements such as crown-rump length (CRL) have been used, but these existing estimators have often been established based on insufficiently described study populations or phenotypes that may have changed in the past decades. Morphological characteristics are also used, but few data are available on the correlation

SUBMITTER: Krog CH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6242369 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature