Any ideas as to why?...

[amysflock]

mommy_2_parks, the other Highland breeders are telling you the right information. Highland heifers are not big enough to carry a healthy calf to term AND deliver safely until they're closer to 3 years old, so we don't breed them until they're at least 2. Please be sure to keep those little girls safely separated from all bulls of any breed until they at least reach 2 years of age.

For the older cow(s) and 3-year old heifers, jhm47 is correct...there are several different diseases that can cause reproductive difficulty. Have you vaccinated your herd? Did they all have their calfhood Bangs vaccines? (If you bought registered Highlands from a reputable breeder then they should have been.) Yes, you can vaccinate for lepto, but our vet says the effectiveness is somewhat spotty and it's not necessarily a cure. You can apparently check the titre level of lepto via blood tests if you suspect they might have had an outbreak recently (such as you know of aborted or stillborn calves), but too many months out and it becomes difficult or impossible to detect.

Other things to consider (but unlikely to happen in all of them) is a retained corpus luteum, which a vet can check for, and also being underweight...if they're too thin they'll have trouble breeding, too. (Plus, if they're too thin it can be hard to get them into proper condition, and this will make it difficult for your 3-year old first-calf heifers to keep condition on during nursing, which could stunt their growth permanently).

If you do pick animals up from sources other than reputable breeders, use EXTREME caution in introducing them to your herd. Any and all animals should be suspect for disease unless proven (or vaccinated for) otherwise. It's better to be safe than sorry. If you don't trust the condition of an animal, better to drive it straight to the slaughter house than bring it home to infect your animals and land.

 

[mommy_2_parks]

I am hoping to load the girls up Monday morning for preg checks. I am crossing my fingers for good pregnant mommas! My husband and I have decided that if they are not pregnant, we will run tests to figure out the problem. I believe that they are all at a healthy weight and age (with the exeption of my yearling babies) so I really hope we get get news on Monday!

 

[amysflock]

Great, keep us posted!

Just as an aside, do you not have vets in your area that will do a farm call? Out here my area we have 3, ranging from $35-50 for the actual farm call, plus the cost of meds, pregnancy checks, vaccinations, or whatever we're doing. We use the $35/visit guy and love him...he has really low overhead for his business so he's able to keep his prices down (plus he's really patient and more than happy to help us learn from him). Just a thought...it could save you on the trouble of having to load, haul, unload, reload, and haul home.

 

[mommy_2_parks]

amysflock, we do have a vet who will make house calls. However, we don't have a headgate and from what I recall, it was pretty expensive to get him out here. I wish we didn't have to load, unload, load, unload but at $5/check, it's worth it. I'm unsure whether to take only a couple of the girls or all of the heifers. Any ideas?

 

[amysflock]

We don't have a headgate here, either, but instead we fashioned a v-squeeze out of two stock panels. If you have the Storey's Guide to Raising Beef (by chance), you'll see a drawing of it there. You basically fix one panel to posts or something (like in the barn, we have ours fixed to the side of a stall), and then fix only the front of the second one so that it can swing toward and away from the stationary panel. Actually, I just remembered I posted a photo on my blog last year...here's the link to the post: http://amysflock.blogspot.com/2009/06/little-late-for-st-pattys-day.html The rope hanging down at the near end is tied off on the stationary panel and lowered to the ground, then wrapped tightly around the swinging panel once the animal is squeezed in, right behind the butt, so she can't back out.

My DH was extra crafty and used a block of wood as a spacer between the front ends of the two panels to give our cows extra room for their horns. We've used our v-squeeze on preg checks and vaccinations, and most recently to hold big pregnant Sheila while I cut a big hair mat out from between her teats.

We actually used borrowed stock panels (in-laws', haven't given them back yet!), but it's so handy we plan to buy two ourselves to keep and use when needed (even though we purchased a rusty old used squeeze chute with scissor-type head gate, which is easier for horned animals to get into).

 

[Nicki]

We have only had highlands a few years now but one thing I have heard many old time breeders say they only bring in VIRGIN stock as the risk of passing on STDS is just to high. We have a really nice highland bull that we would love to be able to rent out during the summer once he is dont working here but I am always to worried about him picking up something from cows that have been bred by multiple bulls.

Also not sure how often you have taken cows to the vet or moved them around but we had originally wanted to try doing AI and were told that transporting anytime in the first 60 days would be to stressful and they may abort. We also have to haul to the vets we do not have anyone that will do farm calls here so ours go for a hour ride if we have to have anything done. And I know our vet will not work on any cow unless they have a actual chute it is just to dangerous for them.

I would be most concerned about your stock you are buying at the sale yard as I know around here when a highland is no longer producing or was a bad mother or hard to settle that is where they send them.

 

[mommy_2_parks]

@ amysflock: Love that idea! I will have to show my DH the picture to see if he and the father-in-law would be up to constructing something like that for around here because we have too many cattle panels laying around here anyway. By the way, I love your blog and your Highlands are gorgeous!

@ Nicki: We bought our first herd of 7 (including 1 bull) from a lady who didn't have the money to take care of them anymore. I believe that is where we picked up a disease, if anywhere. Because even before we bought anymore, they were just not reproducing. We figured that we just got a bad deal and she sold us a bad bull. Well, we rented a bull who was from a great breeder and was producing great confirmation calves. Long story short, we have introduced only 4 non-virgin cows since then, all of which were bought bred and still haven't given birth. My bulls still definitely take intrest in the ladies. Is that a good sign?

 

[jhm47]

It most definitely is NOT a good sign if the bulls are breeding the heifers over and over again. Either the bulls are infertile (which could come from injury, disease, or other causes), or the cows are infertile. If all the cows/heifers are infertile, you likely have a disease problem.

You say that you rented a bull. Did you send him back to the owner? If so, and you have a STD on your place, you most likely have infected his herd also. Vibrio and Trich are the most likely STD's that you might have. I certainly hope that you don't have them. If you do, the best thing you can do is to depopulate and start over with clean stock.

As to using AI, it is not true that you cannot transport them immediately after breeding. The consensus seems to be that you can safely transport them up to around 3 weeks after breeding. After that, the embryo has implanted to the uterus, and might abort with a lot of stress. About 3 weeks later, after the fetus is well attached and established, it's safe to move them again.

I really hope that your problem is nutritional or something besides a STD. Good luck!