[shygirl]

what breed do you have raisinhall?

[RaisinHall Tamworths]

Flake is a Jersey. MIL has White Parks and they have always just got on with it but had Flakie since she was 4 weeks old and we have quite a bond! The White Parks have always just been around and I suppose I've been quite ignorant to how nuce cowsvactually are! Had another Jersey, Yoyo, who should have been due to calve with Flake but she died last year :-(. Probably makes Flake even more precious. Got another one for company for Flake after Yoyo died, Jennifer, hate to say it but its evil only reason shes not in a burger is I dont want to upset flake and have her on her own!! Will try to stop panicking and enjoy it and remember most of the horror stories have Belgian Blue in them!!

[SallyintNorth]

Jerseys have a very wide pelvis, she'll be fine

What breed did you use?

[trish.farm]

RaisinHall, my Jersey who just calved for first time was AI'd with an Angus.  She just needed a wee bit of a tug to get the head out.  Beef farmer friend who helped me said the calf was a perfect size for her and wasnt stuck because of its size, she had just given up pushing a bit as it was her first time.  He said next year, put to the same bull she will pop it out on her own! 

[SallyintNorth]

Any first timer - of any species - may need a bit of help 'loosening up' to let the first head pass to the outside.

If they're going to get stuck, it'll be shoulders / brisket or most often hips.  And the obstruction is the pelvis, not the vaginal opening!

But Jerseys have a lovely wide pelvis, so unless it's an extreme double-muscled type calf, or very very overdue, or she's very very fat, all should be well

[trish.farm]

apparently Daisy was a joy to help!  After my 3 phone calls within 5 minutes saying she's pushing, then the water has broken, then i can see feet, my friend put his cup of tea down and drove over rather quickly before i went into hyper state!!  He has a 80 head suckler herd of shorthorns.  After I had put a headcollar on Daisy and she stood politely to have her calf pulled out, he commented that he might just change his cattle breed!!  Battling with a not so tame shorthorn, with a big calf very stuck, was somewhat different to Daisy's rather tranquil birth!  He laughed and said there should have been classical music playing in the background!!   

[shygirl]

is there a limit to what breed you can put to am experienced jersey cow, seeing as they have the widest pelvis?
some of the bulls up here are humungous.
ie would something like a charollais be too much?

[SallyintNorth]

I suspect an experienced Jersey would manage to calve a Charollais calf, but don't forget you also have to think about her uterus and abdomen muscles.  They'll wear out faster if she's producing larger calves.  Also, I don't know whether the increased strain on her system might make her more likely to go down with milk fever?

I put Hillie to the British Blue for her third calf, and she had no problem.  (British not Belgian - they've worked hard on reducing the problems of extreme muscling and long gestations / bad calvings in the British breed now; I don't know whether they've done the same in the Belgian breeding programme.)

My neighbour, a retired dairy farmer who had a top Jersey herd in her day, used the Murray Grey for a good beef cross calf.  She said she didn't like the Charollais cross, but hasn't suggested it would be too large.  Mind, she retired nearly 20 years ago now, and the bulls just keep getting bigger and more muscley and longer...

Let us know if you try it!

[SallyintNorth]

I know what you mean, trish.farm.  Our sucklers are very quiet for sucklers, but the Jerseys are sweethearts in comparison.  (Actually, they are sweethearts full stop.  ) 

BH is very impressed with my Jerseys .  Actually, he gets more uptight when they're calving than I do!  He used to breed Charollais, then gave that up when he was getting too many difficult calvings.  That experience has scarred him - he frets as soon as the head is out and wants to get on and pull the calf out.  I prefer to let them do their thing naturally...    As long as they're making progress, I prefer to watch.  I had to help Cherry only because BH was going to pop a blood vessel if I didn't!  lol

[trish.farm]

I love my Jerseys to bits, Daisy in particular as she is SO affectionate.  I dont think any breed of cow can compete with a Jersey. 

another question for you Sally 

Delilah didnt take last summer after 3 tries at AI.  She was spot on bulling and AI man said it was perfect timing each time.  She and Daisy are 2 1/2 now, will try with AI again July time with Daisy and Delilah, some people have said she needs a bull but not possible here with fencing etc and i dont want to risk any infection etc.

If she doesnt take this year, do i try again next year or put her in the freezer.  EEEEEEEEKKK!!!!

[SallyintNorth]

Firstly I am wondering why you are only trying in July?  They cycle year round...

One of your local farmers must have a bull you could take Delilah to?  Even walk her to? 

I bought Hillie in calf (she'd been running with a bull) and failed to get her in calf again - like you, AI three times.     I had fixed up with a neighbour that I could walk her over to the neighbour's Shorthorn bull if I needed to, then I realised  that each time I had AI'd her, there had been some upset to her routine. 

Dairy cows are sensitive souls, they love routine and they get upset if things change.  The first time she had come a-bulling had coincided with my weaning her set-on calf (because I needed the milk for my pet lambs.)  Then the second time, with weaning her own calf (because I needed more milk for the pet lambs!)  Third time, with moving the 'milking parlour' as we were taking out the stalls where I had been milking her. Once I realised this, I decreed that I would not serve her again until I was certain I could go 6 weeks with NO CHANGES or upsets to her WHATSOEVER!    It worked  

Touch wood, no problems since with her or any of the other Jerseys - but I do make sure that nothing upsets them around the service and for several weeks after.

If none of that helps, you could get the vet to check that there's nothing wrong with Deliliah.  Our vets reckon they can often help if a cow is proving difficult to get in calf - could be worth a try, rather than putting her in the freezer.

[trish.farm]

Thanks Sally, i try and AI in July to have an April calf, it fits in with my grazing programme.  I can winter graze our HLS ground until end of march then bring them back to my home paddock for calving.  HLS ground has no barns etc and is out of sight being the other side of our woods so I cant keep a close eye on her.  Also it works in well at weaning time as they graze the meadows from August onwards, then come off the meadows around november when I can wean and the girls go back out on HLS ground.  Struggling to find anyone local with a clean bull, quite a few herds around here have BVD.  I could go down the route of vaccinating against BVD but dont really want to do that.

[SallyintNorth]

Ah, I understand - on both counts.  Fingers crossed for this summer's AI then!