Heifer with udder... No bull

[lirette]

Just wondering if a heifer could have a false pregnacy. She is 2 years old and I noticed she had an udder. The other day I noticed it has gotten bigger. I don't have a bull, but I do have a steer out there that is almost 18 months old. I was the one who banded him when he was little. I am sure I had both testicles. Is there a chance something went wrong with the band?? Or???

 

[glenolam]

There's a thing with goats called a precocios udder - it's when they start building an udder and they're not even pregnant. I'm not sure if cows can get precocious udders, but I wouldn't see why not.

There's always a chance your steer still has some man juice in there if you aren't 100% certain you got both testicles, but that chance is usually slim.

Do you have a large animal vet nearby? Maybe they can do a blood test to see if she is pregnant...

 

[lirette]

That's why I asked. I do raise nubians and so I know that happens. But I am only a few years new in the cows. She isn't leaving so we will find out one way or the other. Thanks Kellie

lirettesnubians.com

 

[jason_mazzy]

lets hope she goes into milking mode with no calfs!!! free milk!

 

[glenolam]

Oh I love nubians!

I'm only a few years into cows myself - our three heifers calved for the first time last fall. I don't see why cows couldn't get precocious udders, but, again, I'm not sure how common that is and if it would be OK to milk her if it did occur.

 

[Ariel301]

I expect dairy cattle can have precocious udders, just like dairy goats. It is because they are b red to be such heavy milkers, sometimes the genetics go a little crazy in really heavy milking bloodlines. Not only do you get precocious milkers but I've seen a couple of male goats that actually started producing milk.

I wouldn't expect it on a beef cow though. Which type is she?

 

[Royd Wood]

Prepare for calving

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I've never seen a precocious udder on a heifer.

 

[herfrds]

Do you have a place to restrain her? A head catch with a squeeze chute?
If you do get one of those shoulder length gloves. Lube it up. Go in through the rectum. Feeling downward gently you should feel her pelvic bone, once you get passed the edge of her pelvic bone going in, feeling downward, you should either feel nothing or you will feel something like a basket ball.

Nothing means she is open.
Basketball means she is bred.

If you don't feel comfortable doing this get a vet to do it and teach you how to do it.

the fun one is when you go in and there are the feet and head right there and the cow calves in 3 days. Settled an argument.

 

[she-earl]

It is rare but possible. I had a free-martin holstein heifer (means twin to a bull calf) 20+ years ago. When you have a mixed set of twins, the heifer is almost always sterile. One day I was cleaning out her feed trough and saw that she was about to come down on top of me. We assumed she was in heat so had a breeder come to AI her. However, he was not able to breed her because she had just enough organs to cycle but no uterus to carry a calf. I notice she had the tiniest udder that I could up my hand over. I decided to try and "milk" her. At first it was clear and only amounted to 1/4 cup. I continued milking her and she began to produce nice milk. We had it tested and its butterfat was 4% and she was giving a gallon a day. We had our own milk and milk to sell. I milked her for over 800 days and sold her the week I was married. The check I received for her covered the cost of our honeymoon. I also had Dorset sheep. Some had triplets and needed help with feeding the lambs. I used this milk to bottle feed a lamb. I decided to short cut putting milk in bottle to feed the lamb. I knelt beside the heifer (Becky) and stood the lamb (Skipper) on my lap. In this way he was able to drink directly from the cow. He would hang with the heifer even though he was in the meadow with his mother and brothers. I have pictures of them and wonder how long she would have continued to give milk.