Calf Watch...Guess with me....

[cjc]

@greybeard no I did not check the shorthorn sorry, I checked the jersey. The vet is coming tomorrow to look at my shorthorn. If the Jersey hasn't calved by tomorrow ill have him check her too but she's close, no denying that.

I paid a lot of money for my shorthorn last season so if she isn't pregnant the guy that I bought her from is going to come pick her up and send her back to me when she is pregnant. Because of how much I paid for her I am not going to give up on her until I have to. I bought her bred so I know the kind of calves she can produce. I will AI her with sexed semen to try and get a heifer if she isn't bred.

@farmerjan I am going to get rid of the Hereford at the end of September. I am selling her with her calf from last year. She's been on grass the past 6 months so not too much of a loss there. I only paid $1,500 for her and calf so I am not too heavily invested in her financially, but I do care for the cow. She's got a really funny personality and she is the mother hen of our herd. All the calves gravitate to her and when she is full of milk she will let any calf nurse. I sorta regret drying her up as I have 7 bottle calves! I will be sad when I load her on the truck.

 

[cjc]

Alright the vet came! The shorthorn is bred hallelujah!! He thinks 7-8 months. The jersey any day now, calf is lined up and ready to go. Very happy my shorthorn is bred. She took a long time to take but she took! In her defence I dropped a bull when she had a one month old calf on her.

 

[farmerjan]

Alright the vet came! The shorthorn is bred hallelujah!! He thinks 7-8 months. The jersey any day now, calf is lined up and ready to go. Very happy my shorthorn is bred. She took a long time to take but she took! In her defence I dropped a bull when she had a one month old calf on her.

Glad your shorthorn is bred and now you know. Like I said, I figured 2-5 more days for the jersey just from what I could see in the pics, hard to tell but the mucous helps. They will fool you though. Congrats.

 

[cjc]

Now I am second guessing my Hereford! I thought for sure she wasn't bred but I didn't have her checked yesterday and she would never stand for a vet and I would of had to get her in the squeeze. Ugh! I saw her and our Shorthorn jumping on each other the other day so I assumed one of them was cycling but now I am questioning myself!! If I sell her I know she will end up ground beef right away and I don't want to do that to her with a calf in her....

 

[farmerjan]

I had a jersey cow that was confirmed preg. Month later saw her "in heat" so went to breed her A I but she didn't feel "open" so I didn't go through the cervix. Next trip out vet confirmed her to the original breeding. She did this 4 times during the next 4 months, and every time she was fully standing for another cow to ride her. Vet said that sometimes they just do it, but she had a calf 2 days after her original due date. Never had that problem with her again. I am surprised you didn't get the vet to check the hereford while there just in case. Plus, cows close to calving will give off hormonal smells or signals or something as I have seen other cows ride them like they are coming in heat but they never fully stand. Do you have a neighbor or even the A I person that is experienced enough to stick a gloved hand up them to see if they can feel a calf? I know vet trips out here are usually a minimum of $100. Sorry, you are too far away to do the neighbor thing. Maybe a dairyman near you that would stop by when you could get her in the chute? If she was with the same bull as the shorthorn, when did you take the bull out? You could always figure the last day he left she got bred, and keep her until after her due date..... or wait til the vet has to come out again so it's not a special trip.....We breed for a 90 day window so the bulls are only in for a specific period of time, so I can always figure the last day he was there and know that they have to be due no later than such and such a date. We preg check when they get moved so we know what their status is...

 

[cjc]

Ya I know I really regret not putting her in the squeeze! She is not even close to a quiet cow which was the main reason and I was seriously surprised our shorthorn is that far along. Ugh!!!! I thought they both failed to catch but I was committed to the shorthorn regardless. I was expecting him to tell me the shorthorn wasn't bred and was hoping to find out why. Our squeeze was in another pasture and bcs she's not quiet walking her to it isn't an option.

I have one friend who may be able to help. It's $200 for the vet call, honestly I may just call again bcs I care for this cow. I thought of holding out until the shorthorn calves but the vet said its not a perfect science she could be as late as December and no one is going to buy my Hereford in December! I'll probably wait for my jersey to calf and see if she has any issues...id be calling the vet out for her if she did anyways. Ugh.

 

[farmerjan]

If the vet said the jersey's calf was in position, she will spit it out and you'll never know til afterward!!!!!!! Don't want you to have to call them for anything...

 

[greybeard]

Plus, cows close to calving will give off hormonal smells or signals or something as I have seen other cows ride them like they are coming in heat but they never fully stand.

This /\ happens a lot. I kinda think it's some kind of pheromone-perhaps from the soon-to-be momma's urine.

 

[AClark]

Where's that baby at?

Also, not about cows, but my parents had a horse that would come in heat regularly the entire time she was pregnant. They had leased her to someone who brought her back (after breeding her to an expensive Arabian endurance horse) because she wouldn't catch. She ended up foaling soon after they brought her back and they came back and got them, lol. She did that until the day she died and she had several healthy foals...sometimes hormones are just weird.

 

[farmerjan]

@cjc ANY BABY YET??? I'm thinking it is gonna be a bull if she's gone this far past her due date. It's the rule of thumb on dairies, usually right about 75% of the time. At this point, healthy, alive and no problems will be good