Yelling Cow??

[MargaretClare]

One of my grandma's heifers (about a year and a half old) keeps yelling/mooing/bellowing(?) And I cannot figure out why. She's eating, poop looks regular and normal, belly isn't bloated as far as I can tell. She may be bred but wouldn't put money on it. From what I can see she's just yelling. I don't think we can temp her but had my hand in her mouth and it felt normal temp I guess... no apparent breathing issues.

When we go out to check on her she specifically screams at us.

We're keeping an eye on her but handling her is gonna be no fun for anybody if we have too. If she's still doing this tomorrow gma might call the vet for an ADR but holey moley is she driving us nuts. This is really unusual.

 

[greybeard]

Is there a bull available to her?

 

[MargaretClare]

Is there a bull available to her?

No bull around older than a month. I didn't even consider she might be in heat because she's never done this before.

 

[greybeard]

Could be other problems/reasons too, especially if you haven't seen her try to mount anything.

 

[MargaretClare]

Could be other problems/reasons too, especially if you haven't seen her try to mount anything.

She's penned up separate from the other cows right now so she can't actually mount anything. She keeps breaking our waterline to play in the water. She shares a fenceline with a steer.

 

[MargaretClare]

Thought I'd update that she's acting completely normal again. I guess if she goes bananas again in about 3 weeks we'll know.

 

[farmerjan]

I'd definitely say she may very well have been in heat. They all do something different and the bellowing every time they see you is pretty common for some. Try letting her stay with the steer when it is close to time and see if he doesn't ride her, or she rides him. At about a year and a half that is prime time to be showing heats. And they may not be regular, as heifers often have a shorter cycle of 18-20 days...

 

[MargaretClare]

I'd definitely say she may very well have been in heat. They all do something different and the bellowing every time they see you is pretty common for some. Try letting her stay with the steer when it is close to time and see if he doesn't ride her, or she rides him. At about a year and a half that is prime time to be showing heats. And they may not be regular, as heifers often have a shorter cycle of 18-20 days...

Thank you, I was wondering if that might actually have been her first heat. I thought they start going into heat at like 8 months. We haven't had cattle for very long (like 3 years) so we're stumped on a lot of beginner stuff.

 

[farmerjan]

Different breeds start showing heats at different ages. Jerseys are known for coming into heat anywhere after 7-8 months. The better the nutrition, often the earlier the heats. Many will have heats that you never see, especially early on. I was saying that at 18 months, they are in full prime sexual "maturity" as far as coming into heat. Some breeds take longer to mature and come into heat. You did not say what breed of cattle this heifer was. Also, heifers usually have shorter heats than cows, and so she could have been coming into heat at night and it only lasting 6 hours. Not uncommon. If you are wanting to catch her in heat, then you need to have another "bovine" with her so that the heats are more obvious.

 

[Mini Horses]

I had a goat yelling for "nothing" for 2 days! Annoying...she was definitely in heat...out now, and quiet. Drove me nuts.

Next month she'll go with buck when it comes on. Hoping another or two are also unbred at this time...hoping. I'd like to not have all kids at one time. All dairy girls.