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

[farmerjan]

Ok so we had a slight change of plans haha. I bought this heifer off my neighbor, super nice man raises fantastic cows but he made a boo boo. Turns out her due date is actually September 20th! I thought it was 3 weeks ago, so that explains that. He got the AI papers mixed up. He said he was so worried she hadn't calved yet so he went back to look and found his error, oh well! I will continue to wait impatiently .

Over the past few days though her bag has really changed. It's MASSIVE! This is my first dairy cow and seriously I cannot believe how big her udder has gotten the past two days. Her teats have also gotten a lot wider. I think she is going to end up one hell of a nurse cow for me!

I am really really praying for a heifer from both my girls this year! I got two bull calves this year, no heifers. I haven't had a heifer born on the farm in 2 years. I would love a heifer for my jersey, then there would be no questioning if I would keep her calf and I would love to raise her daughter to be a nurse cow. For my shorthorn I NEED a heifer from her. I need to raise a shorthorn replacement heifer, well don't need but it sure would be nice! I swore I would stay away from Angus and now I have 8 Angus calves...

I spoke to the vet about sexed semen for my Jersey and I think I will look at that next year. He did warn me that sexed semen isn't as reliable as the sperm get damaged but he said its more likely to work in heifers and second time calvers, which she would be. If I don't do that I am going to bred her to an easy calving Angus. If it's a beef cross cow I will have more use for it if I end up with a bull calf.

I'm not sure why the vet said the sperm gets damaged when they sex the semen. Maybe when it was first tried, but today there are literally thousands of straws of sexed semen sold. That said, the straws contain less semen than the unsexed, usually being 1/4 cc instead of the standard 1/2 cc straws. And yes it is suggested to use it on heifers and young cows; conception rates are less than for regular straws, but that also depends on how observant you are and if you catch her in full heat. It's more expensive, about twice of the regular straws, but if you really want a heifer then it is a lot better odds (unless you are another walking Murphy's law like me and get the 10% that are bulls....) And if she has a heat that lasts a bit longer I would breed her twice 12 hours apart. Considerations for down the road. Yeah, I have some more use for the cross calves if they are bulls even though I eat jersey beef myself; but the cross heifers make tremendous milkers and putting a second calf on them and turning them out with the beef cows gives me the added calf to sell, 2 for the price of one sorta. Glad you got the due date definite now, and hope that you get the heifer.

 

[cjc]

I'm not sure why the vet said the sperm gets damaged when they sex the semen.

I have actually been told this by a few local farmers and the company that we will use to do AI. The theory is that when they sort the semen some get damaged along the way. It makes sense I think. The company we will use, Wesgen, say they have only a 40% conception rate with sexed semen and a 65% with non sexed semen. Since I will only be breeding one cow if I choose to breed her to a jersey the difference in conception rates isn't enough to turn me off. Having to breed her more than once is worth it to me than to end up with a Jersey bull calf. And yes I believe its $45 for AI without sexed semen and $90 for sexed semen.

 

[cjc]

You guys I feel like this pic is a little X rated haha, but if this doesn't look ready to go I don't know what does. The long string of mucous is one of about 25 strands she's had today...

 

[cjc]

Jesus Christ it's a BULL CALF!!! . That's all I seem to get this year!!! But, besides that he is ADORABLE! My first Jersey and wow is he friendly. I am used to my beef cows dropping calves their calf looking at me and literally running for the hill, me wrestling them to the ground to dip their navel and give them a few shots. This little guy just came at me with curiosity and nothing but love. So do you know what that means? I am raising a Jersey Bull calf!

He is very small but I am also used to seeing beef breeds. He had a hard time finding her teat, just kept suckling in the air haha so we worked on that this morning. But our girl didn't disappoint, she delivered exactly on her due date!

 

[babsbag]

Congrats but sorry about the bull parts. Calves are just so cute with those big eyes and long eyelashes. I have access to jersey bull calves at a super stupid low price and have thought of raising one to butcher, but not sure I could give something that cute a bottle and then send it to "freezer camp" down the road. I don't bottle raise my goats raised for meat so I stay totally unattached to them.

 

[farmerjan]

Sorry you got a bull calf. But the last 2 years we have used sexed semen on one of my jerseys, I hit murphy's law and the 10% and had 2 bulls....LOL. Yes they are cute, and with you being around them they will be fairly friendly. By the time they hit 4-5 months, I can divorce myself from the friendly and think about beef in the freezer. Make him a steer before he gets too old. Jersey's mature sooner than other breeds and he will get much more aggressive than beef bulls and Jersey's have been known to get mean quick. I used one off of a dairy and he was fine, but I never turned my back on him. He also produced all heifer calves on my animals that year....

 

[farmerjan]

Looks like the cow will do good for you, she seems to be real nice and quiet and tame in the pics. CONGRATS. Hope her teats will be long enough to comfortably milk, that tends to be a problem, they're often short.

 

[cjc]

@farmerjan Her teats do seem long enough but the calf is just so darn small! I left them for 3 hours and am going to go back out in an hour to make sure he understands again and knows how to get lunch. He's just sucking on skin! I have also never had a calf that has so few teeth when they are born! Our vet who only really deals with dairies is always so shocked how developed the teeth are on my beef calves and I just thought he was strange haha but makes sense now that I see this dairy calf.

I have read that Jersey's don't keep warm like the other breeds I have. Do you think I need to put a blanket on this guy? I made them a big straw bed as I heard straw helps them maintain a good temperature. It was chilly this morning but he wasn't shivering at all.

I have one more cow to calf this year and it better be a heifer! The universe owes me a heifer!

 

[cjc]

@babsbag there is reason why I only tend to buy the heifer bottle calves haha. I figure I can knock them up and sell them bred and they will have a purpose other than the freezer. It is true you do bond differently with them but out of the 4 orphan heifers I have only 2 are really dear to my heart. They all come with different personalities as all animals. I have been pondering what to do with my heifer calves and so tomorrow a piece of land we have is getting fencing put up. Since we breed shorthorns on the farm and drop a shorthorn bull and all my calves are angus, I will move all my heifer calves when they are ready out to the new space and breed them to an Angus bull. That concept calms my heart because auctioning them off would crush me.

 

[greybeard]

Lucky you--a bull calf!! If I tried getting that close to one of my beefmaster momma's calves once she got on her feet, she'd had me for lunch. don't ask how I know this......