When will they be ready to breed?

[started*with*chickens]

We finally broke down and bought 4 mini western heritage cattle. (We started with one with plans on breeding her to my uncle's mini longhorns but the people we bought her from were desperate to sell so we got a great deal!) My husband and I both had different types of animals growing up but aren't really sure what we've gotten ourselves into.

The oldest cow is 5 years and has had 3 calves. We bought her last one, a pretty little heifer, who is almost 9 months old. Then there are 2 others, about 18 months old, one heifer, one bull. The bull has no relation to any of the girls. The older heifer is almost the same size as the cow so I believe she is old enough to breed. The oldest cow is showing signs of heat and the bull isn't showing any signs of interest. At what age should he start showing signs that he's ready to breed? He's also the same size as the older heifer/cow. My concern is that the younger heifer is going to go into heat before we have a way to seperate them and I don't want her bred before she's ready. We are only planning on keeping the 2 younger heifers but would like to hold onto the cow until she calves. She's a very dark/black brindle (you can see the brindling in the sun but that's about it) and I'm worried about her selling and I'm hoping if she's bred or has a calf with her it will make her more desirable. I'm also hoping we aren't making a huge mistake selling her because she is proven to breed and throws beautiful calves with the right bull.

That's a lot of wording to ask 'When will the bull be ready?' As long as the bull doesn't act like a pain I might be able to talk my husband into holding onto him long enough to get all 3 girls bred. He was sniffing the cow's urine earlier, is that a good sign?

Because everything is better with pictures!

 

[WildRoseBeef]

The bull should be ready to start breeding at this age. He's probably not interested in the cow because she's either just going into heat or just coming out of heat and is not showing any signs of being ready to bred. It's also possible that he's a night-rider and shows no interest in the day but is active at night.

Just some thoughts.

 

[jhm47]

If the bull is 18 months old, the cow and older heifers are already bred. That is, if the bull is not sterile. It's also possible that the 9 month old heifer is also bred. Many heifers have their first heat at around that time or even earlier.

 

[started*with*chickens]

We bought Dixie, the 9 month old (almost 9 months, she still has a couple of weeks) about 2 weeks ago so she was seperated from the herd for those 2 weeks. I really think we are safe that she's not bred mainly because she's still so small and everything I've read says they need weight on them before starting heat. I could be wrong! The people we bought them from couldn't give me any exact ages, it was about 14 months, about 18 months. The original breeder was very nice and got back with me on the birthdate and sire info for Dixie a couple of week ago so now I'm just waiting to hear back on the other 3. (We just got them last night). From everything I've read the breeder tries for Spring calves, they people we bought them from got them in August (Dixie was born in August) so they might be only a year old. The bull was smelling the urine of the older heifer as well as the cow this afternoon. He seems to really, really, really like what he smells but didn't do anything. I'm hoping he's either a night-rider or more along the lines of only a year old. Is a year still to young?

The cow is swollen and red and having clear mucus discharge. Would this be the begining of heat? If the bull is still to young or doesn't do what he needs to I want to make sure we've got her cycles down so we can either take her to my uncle's to breed (he's about 5 hrs away, in Texas that's like being next door! lol) or look into AI. The older heifer looks a little red to me too (compared to Dixie) but not as swollen/red and obvious as the cow.

 

[jhm47]

Bulls constantly smell the urine of cows to check when they might be in estrus. Cows vulvas rarely swell up or turn red when they are in heat. The best indicators of heat are these: Nervousness, pacing, bellowing, riding other cows/bulls/steers/heifers/calves/, encouraging other animals to ride them, smelling the reproductive organs of their herdmates. However, the riding indicator is the best and most positive. A cow will not stand for another to ride her if she isn't in heat. One that is in heat will often stand rock solid and allow multiple others to ride them.

 

[started*with*chickens]

I'm going to keep an eye on her and make sure there isn't something else going on then. I don't think she has an infection (the mucus was clear) but if red/swollen isn't a sign of heat I might need to start her on a round of antibiotics or have a vet look at her. Out of the 4 she's the one who seems to need the most TLC. She has a small, quarter sized, spot on her back hip that looks like a cut/puncture and it might be getting infected. She also looks like she might have pink eye or an eye infection in one eye. We bought a spray (I don't have it in front of me, its in a blue bottle and was really pricey, we paid $30 for an 8oz bottle) that the feed store told us works miracles on wounds and pink eye. Hopefully that will help. Her coat isn't as pretty as the others but we were hoping a new diet and better environment would perk her back up. She was still nursing Dixie when we bought her which I thought was way to old to still be nursing. That could be why Dixie seemed in good shape when we got her 2 weeks ago and momma not so much. They had a lot of animals and were overloaded, I'm afraid the horses might have been getting more than the cows.

We are also going to worm them today. I don't really see any signs of worms but they haven't had anything done to them since they were bought in August so it couldn't hurt.

 

[greybeard]

If she is sick, poorly nourished, diseased or injured it can and probably will affect her going into heat. Trace minerals (or lack thereof) also affect her breeding characteristics.
What do you use as a dewormer?

 

[started*with*chickens]

The original breeder was very nice getting back with me on their ages. It turns out the older heifer and bull will be 12 months on 5/9 and 5/15. I think they are getting close to being ready but not there yet. He said most of his herd show signs around 12-14 months (sometimes longer, miniatures seem to take a little longer to mature).

The bull and older heifer (and Dixie) look pretty good. They have really warmed up to us, have lost their swollen look and seem content. The cow on the other hand has me stumped! I'm really starting to think she's bred. The chances that she is are very, very slim but there's just something about her. We thought she was showing signs of heat when we first got her because of the clear mucus. The was around the 24th. Now we've noticed mucus again on the 3rd and again the 4th. It's still clear, no sign of infection or blood. If it's heat I understand it should last 2-3 days and we noticed it again 10 days later. Her back area still looks swollen/loose compared to the other 2 but my husband thinks it has to do with the fact she's calved before. She is being very moody, one minute she loves us the next she acts like she's not sure of us. She's urinated and cover it up with dirt. She still has a very large belly but the breeder said it could be that she's older and she's taking longer to recover. There's been twice that I've looked at her and thought it was going down but then it looks even bigger later. Our neighbor came over to see them for the first time and she breeds cattle and asked us when she was due. She said to keep and eye on her and she looks like she has a pregnancy walk to her. Her udders are a little more noticeable than they were before but that really could be just wishful thinking. The other problem is she had Dixie on August 6th and then was picked up on August 19th but she was with a bull during this time. I've read that (even though it's rare) they can be bred back as early as 10 days, which means it could be possible, the breeder said he has had it happen once. He figured the latest she would calve if possibly bred before leaving them is May 19th. The online calculators I've found have said the 25th. My daughter and I both have noticed 'movement' but my husband says we are crazy and seeing things. I know we could get a vet out to tell us for sure but at this point it would save money to just hold out and wait her out. I do not believe she was bred later by the young bull, he really just doesn't seem 'there' yet.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Could you maybe post some new pictures of her? Side view, backside view, udder view, that sort of thing, to give us a bit if a view to see if she's bred or not.

 

[started*with*chickens]

Of course this morning she doesn't look as big to me as she did yesterday. I'm probably just having wishful thinking...If she's getting 'bigger' as the day goes on it would make sense that it's from eating. I will try to remember to take pictures tonight to show how much bigger she looks as the day goes. Dixie, her last calf, was 22lbs. By the calculator I found online she could still have 19 or so more days but this morning I'm really doubting myself.