Jersey calving?

[raeleigh26]

Okay, my second cow is being ready to have her first calf. ... she isn't supposed to be sure until mid February, but I noticed she's s little springy the other day, the bull thought she was coming in, and today her bag is fuller and she's got slimy discharge. ...
She's not completely full, not excessively swollen and springing, but I do not want any surprises as Maggie is still in the pen/barn with her bottle calf and tootsie is still in the pasture ...
Can anyone give me a guesstimate how long she's got?

 

[Goatgirl47]

Do you have a picture of her? Was she pasture bred? If so, how long was she with the bull?
Cows usually start showing signs of calving 1-2 months before their due dates. Which includes bagging up and having some mucous.

She's with a bottle calf you said, but that calf is not nursing on her, right?

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Heifers are notorious for showing signs but not actually calving for several weeks to even a couple of months. You can get a heavy-bred cow (or -bred heifer) that bags up really tight but doesn't calve for another 3 or 6 weeks.

 

[raeleigh26]

That's what happened with Maggie, and why her first calf was stillborn, she showed absolutelyno signs of being any closer when I checked her the night before, but by 5 am, it was too late.
Should have an app that buzzes your phone when a band detects contractions on the cow!

 

[LisaR]

When mine was pregnant she looked like she would have it any day about 3 weeks before she actually calved. She was due August 11th but didn't have her baby until the 16th. Her back end was very swollen and springy, her pins were relaxed and separated, her udder was so full it was hard for her to walk but nothing happened. A few days before she calved, the tendons between her tail and pins were completely relaxed that I couldn't see or feel it anymore, she started to have a lot more discharge and lost her mucus plug, and she started leaking milk.
I also read that cows will stop eating when they are close but that wasn't the case for Daisy, she was eating until the end and even took a break while pushing her calf out to have a snack.

 

[LisaR]

Here's a picture of Daisy's back end 3 days before she calved. It's hard too see but it gets really swollen and very bouncy even when they barely move the closer they get.

 

[LisaR]

I just remembered another bit of information about when our heifer was close to calving, the farmer we got her from said it happens to all of his cows and heifers too. On her stomach near her belly button, a lump of fluid started forming about a week before calving and got really big the day before she calved.
This picture was taken a day after she calved and the lump is smaller but hopefully you can see what I'm talking about.

 

[Goatgirl47]

@LisaR, I can't believe that your cow held out for that long!

 

[raeleigh26]

That's interesting! I'll look for that bulge on her belly....
They do have labor sensors btw! Moocall, goes in the vagina, and cowcall attaches to the tail, both send a text when they detect labor signs, but they're expensive!
Tootsie isn't fully bagged up yet, still pretty soft, but I'm checking her twice a day until she shows any signs of being closer, I managed to being Maggie up from pasture the day before she calved, but still missed it on a 4 hour rotation. Lost the calf.
Tootsie is not even showing any baby bump! Bred to my dexter, she doesn't look pregnant unless the calf happens to be pushing out on one side. .... whereas Maggie liked like she was carrying triplets. ... so here's hoping for a nice small healthy heifer calf! She's due Feb 9th, fingers crossed that this one goes well!

 

[raeleigh26]

Sorry, I missed earlier questions, she was in with the bottle calf and Maggie overnight for the cold , the horses wouldn't let them in the barn on the other side, but moved when she started letting him try to nurse, that was a month ago. Weeks before she started having discharge. She still calls to him and licks him through the fence.
She was pasture bred, Harley was loose in the field for a month or so, but I witnessed the first breeding, immediately after turning her out. .... she was in season 2 weeks after we brought her home. That was may 3rd. Is possible she's got a full month or better yet, if she didn't settle the first time, which is why I'm worried after losing maggies first calf. ... don't want to confine her too early, but don't want to risk a pasture birth, with the other cows and horses around. ... nowhere for her to go off to have privacy.