Anestrus cow

[michelle43]

I bought a 6 yr old angus cow with a 2.5 month heifer calf at her side. The cow is in great condition and the calf is also really healthy. I bought them both from a local farmer. I've had an Angus bull with my new cow and another highland heifer for the past 5 weeks. The heifer has cycled and been bred, but so far the cow has not gone into heat. Any ideas?

 

[jhm47]

Pull the calf for 48 hours. There will be lots of bellowing and calling, but it won't hurt either of them. The cow will return to heat within a week or so.

 

[michelle43]

Thanks! I'll given it a try!

 

[OtterCreekRanch]

I personally would not pull the calf from the cow at this age even for a short period of time. That is just asking for a case of mastitis or for the cow to stop producing milk all together.

I would either just leave the cow alone and let her do her thing and when she gets bred she gets bred or if you really want her to breed back immediately bring her into heat hormonally. We do not do anything to bring our cows back into heat after calving and they all produce their calves around 1 year after the previous calf give or take a month. If they are not doing this on their own then they are sent on their merry way.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

The most likely cause (and I can only assume as I've never seen the Angus cow) of her not coming back into heat is she may have suffered some sort of illness before the farmer sold her to you, which may have caused her to become sterile, either temporarily or (hopefully not) permanently. A uterine infection or possibly a retained placenta may cause the cow to come back into heat later than usual.

I'm skeptical about pulling the calf early. But I would get some more information on the cow's health history to find out a possible explanation for her not coming back into heat.

 

[michelle43]

Hi everybody,
I read up on the "Shang" effect and decided to pull the calf. She's over 3 months old now and has been eating grass, hay, grain, and drinking water for the last month at least. What I don't know is anything about mastitis. What should I look for? Also, I was definitely not prepared for the amount of bellowing I listened to all night. I'm hoping it stops before tonight.

One more thing. Is there any reason the calf should need to continue nursing if she eats well without it? I have a bottle calf 3 weeks older than this angus heifer calf and he's been weaned for 5 weeks now and doing fine.

Thanks,
Michelle

 

[jhm47]

In the herds that I work with, mastitis has never been a problem when the calves are pulled for 48 hours. These calves are usually several months old, and the cows are not producing quite as much milk as when they first calved. Also, when you re-introduce the calf to the cow, it will drain every drop of milk out of the cow right away, and any bacteria should be flushed out.

This method works for many of my customers, especially those purebred breeders who like to get their top donor cows to cycle ASAP.

 

[michelle43]

Thanks JHM!

 

[michelle43]

So, I got my cow a GnRH shot followed by an Estrumate shot 7 days later. She went into a short heat about 2 days later. She's out in the pasture with a bull, bit I never saw him successfully mount her, not for a lack of trying.....albeit, he tried much harder with my heifer.

Anyway, if she didn't get bred or doesnt settle, will she continue to cycle on her own or will she need another round of GnRH and Estrumate?

Thanks...

 

[jhm47]

She should continue to cycle naturally. Put an estrotect patch on her about 14 - 17 days after her last heat. If the bull mounts her, it will turn color. Good luck!