Agri Vehicles Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: overdue heifer  (Read 4926 times)

trish.farm

  • Joined Feb 2014
  • hampshire
overdue heifer
« on: May 20, 2015, 09:44:30 am »
going by AI date from last year, my heifer was due 20 days ago!  Very small bag, teats not engorged. udder looks like small boobs!!  Muscles around tail bone not relaxed.  She wasn't PD'd last year but AI man checked her when he came back to AI another cow and said she had taken.  Should I be worried that she has gone 20 days over?

Rosemary

  • Joined Oct 2007
  • Barry, Angus, Scotland
    • The Accidental Smallholder
Re: overdue heifer
« Reply #1 on: May 20, 2015, 04:44:56 pm »
I would be - but then I'm not very experienced and a worrier by nature. I'd have the vet out for a look - or at least a phone call for advice.

fsmnutter

  • Joined Oct 2012
  • Fettercairn, Aberdeenshire
Re: overdue heifer
« Reply #2 on: May 20, 2015, 04:59:28 pm »
Is there any chance she could have been AI'd again at a later bulling, or even naturally bulled (including by a young bull calf?) as 20 days would sound to me far too long to be overdue without showing any signs of nearing calving.
I would get your vet out to do a quick PD, as if that far in calf it should be straightforward to tell if she's due and taken later, but they can lose calves later in pregnancy so perhaps she lost it after the AI man has checked her for you.

trish.farm

  • Joined Feb 2014
  • hampshire
Re: overdue heifer
« Reply #3 on: May 20, 2015, 07:43:32 pm »
thanks, yep going to ring vet tomorrow for some advice!  She was definitely only AI'd once and no chance of being anywhere near a bull.  So frustrating!!

Cowgirl

  • Joined Aug 2013
Re: overdue heifer
« Reply #4 on: May 23, 2015, 09:06:36 am »
We had a cow go 10 days over but I think much more than that would be unlikely. Vets are not infallible - we were told our old cow wasn't in calf and look what arrived!

Cowgirl

  • Joined Aug 2013
Re: overdue heifer
« Reply #5 on: May 23, 2015, 09:10:14 am »
PS Sad for you if she's not in calf - it's so disappointing.

trish.farm

  • Joined Feb 2014
  • hampshire
Re: overdue heifer
« Reply #6 on: May 23, 2015, 09:10:32 am »
Awww, he is gorgeous!!!!!  Have now decided nobody is in calf!!  Agnes the heifer obviously slipped hers or was not in calf, now about 25 days over!!  Daisy who I didn't reckon was in calf has bagged up on her left side and not on right side, but is not in calf.  Getting vet to have a look at her udder when they are out TBing next month.  Waste of a year and waste of hundreds of pounds trying to get the 3 in calf last year.  Using the real thing this year, got a bull coming!! 

Cowgirl

  • Joined Aug 2013
Re: overdue heifer
« Reply #7 on: May 23, 2015, 06:03:53 pm »
Can't really "like" when they're not in calf but certainly can sympathise as we initially had no luck with AI until we started using a hormone protocol with fixed time AI - feels so unnatural though. The calf in the photo is an AI calf. I'm sure Rosemary has the right idea, buy a bull use him for a few months then send him for slaughter - seems harsh but good for bringing in new bloodlines. We're just wary of bringing in disease, that's the only thing.

trish.farm

  • Joined Feb 2014
  • hampshire
Re: overdue heifer
« Reply #8 on: May 23, 2015, 08:31:16 pm »
I am using a neighbours Charolais, he is a tiny bull who throws small calves so will be ok on my Jerseys.  They have 2 jerseys in there herd of Charolais and BBx, and he has bred some lovely calves out of them.  They are linked to our holding as they graze our water meadows in the summer so easy for the bull to come over.  They are BVD etc free so  :fc: wont have a disease problem.  Anyway my girls graze the aftermath of the meadows when they move out so if they are going to catch something they probly would have done anyway!  He is coming over for 6 weeks beginning of July.  I spent a fortune last year on prids and AI. Not going down that route again!! Especially for no calves!!

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: overdue heifer
« Reply #9 on: June 17, 2015, 10:12:34 am »
Oh what a shame, how frustrating.

One thing I learned about Jerseys early on was that any stress will cause them to lose an early pregnancy.  And to a Jersey, a change in routine is a stressful thing.  So now, when using AI, we make sure they are not stressed by the process itself and that their daily routine remains unchanged for at least 5 weeks after service.

But sounds like you've found a very suitable bull to use, so hopefully you'll have some lovely crossbred calves next April :fc:
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

 

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