Heifer about to calf, dang it, she is young
 

Hey all,
Ive got a heifer that is 18 months...She is bagging up, vulva hugely swollen, milk dripping...Im guessing she is going to have a calf?
We bought her supposedly open, had her a.i.ed to two months ago.I dont know what this all means.
Anyway, I know she was bred too young (called the guy I bought her from...he mentioned a bull breaking through a fence in the spring), but what i dont know is what the ramifications to this is. Please advise. She is a jersey, if that matters.
Thanks,
Mary

Let your vet know about it ahead of time. Be sure to be there when she calves. Be ready to assist if she needs it but also remember to allow her some time to stretch!
Any idea what breed the bull was?
18-19 months isn't as bad as it could be. Some people calve out there Jerseys starting at 20 months (we don't!) so obviously they don't find it as much of a risk.

She may also be aborting, but if her only exposure was a bull this spring and then AIing two months ago, best bet is she is preparing to calve. I don't think they go through all the sacking up motions for a two month abortion.

Mary F
Size and maturity has a lot more to do with it than age. We always breed our beef hiefers to have calves between 20-24 months. If you had her AI ed 2 months ago and they couldn't tell she was bred, I would look for a new tech. for future breedings.
Mr Wanda
Mike

Hi Mary,
Size has much more impact on calving ability than age does. We breed our Jersey hiefers to calve out at 20-24 months and have never had a problem. We have been breeding Jerseys for the last 17 years. If it was me, I would just watch her close, and be there for her when she calves. Do you know what breed the bull was?? Can you find out from the guy who sold her to you if that bull normally threw large calves?? And if the guys who AI'd her didn't know she was pregnant......I'd be getting some new AI "experts" for next time......Please let us know how the calving goes.

Ok, thanks...I feel better from your info. The only bull he has is a jersey, good one too, so I can at least feel good about that.
She is still going, think she is hitting second stage of labor....licking her belly, red tinged mucus ect. But she sure looks like she doesnt know what is going on :o
You all mentioned to dump the a.i. guy....can you tell me why? Should he have known/been able to feel that she was pregnant?
Ill keep ya posted, though I think she will go all day...
Also..what does calving young do regarding being a good/bad milker for the rest of her time?
Thanks all,
Mary

I had one calve at 14 months, was in with the bull, she had Jersey in her blood (they mature faster). She was as big as her mother at 14 months, she did have a tough time. But the calf did come out, and both are still alive (calf, now cow is 7-8 years old, mom is 1 year older).


Jeff

Yes, the AI tech should have known. In fact, they probably did and just didn't say anything. Any tech I ever had would have gleefully left a note with a big tee hee about how come I hadn't noticed the cow was bred 7 months. I'd expect to pay the full breeding charge, of course, but it's a courtesy I would expect, in any case, to be told that the cow was already bred.

Jennifer

Just want to tell ya to be careful, my grandparents are stupid enough to leave ALL Their cows/heifers in with their bull ALL year round, that means that as soon as a heifer can get pregnant theirs are! They had one heifer clave at about 20 months old, she had a hard time, needed a days persusion to take her baby as her own, but both are just fine. THey also had another heifer calve at 20 months old, after the first one, she had a dead bull calf, and she almost died. So just be fareful. Good Luck, I will be praying for her, her unborn baby, and for you. Good luck, bye.

Thought I would post some pic's. Yesterday, I thougth we would have a calf sometime today. Now, today, I would say she is not progressing at all.

What do you guys think by how she looks?

http://www.islefarms.com/web/k2.jpg

MaryF

My grandparent heifer looked like that, as far as udder development goes, exactly a week before she calved, but she was a meat cow, what kind is yours, if she is dair y she would be bigger for sure. Well good Luck with her and the as of right now unborn baby. Good Luck, bye.

Mary, she looks like a nice heifer and certainly heavy-bred. Its so hard to say from pictures and especially a heifer, but I would expect a little more udder development before she goes into labour...so I am guessing a week or two, maybe more...but it could be tonight! :p Sorry I can't be of more help, but every cow is different and heifers really like to keep you guessing. Can you see if she has milk yet?? She looks very well taken care of. Is she very touchable around the udder?? If not, this is the time to work with her.

Mary, what's the latest news on your heifer? Did she end up having a Christmas baby? Here's hoping all has gone or is going well.

The heifer in the pics above is not going to have a calf anytime soon IMO. Look on the heifers right side. No protrussion of any consequence = no calf near term. She is a nice heifer and appears to be well cared for. :)

Our heifer that calved December 6th had an udder from June till she calved of this year. Her udder was bigger during the summer, and progressively got bigger as time wore on. Her back end was flabbyish for quite sometime as well. Tough to say whether she will calve soon, but the fact that udder isn't as developed, can't see her calving soon. Her back end is swollen some. One way to be certain, have her preg checked, see what the vet says. This way you can figure whether or not she is close, or several months away.


Jeff

Hey Mary, how is your heifer doing? I will be praying for hte best. bye.

Yes, a preg check is well worth the peace of mind!!

Below is a pic of our 7/8 jersey with her first calf on the day she calved. Her udder just kept getting bigger until it looked like this the day she calved. Granted, she was a huge milker for her size and even for her age! I'd call a vet to put your mind at rest unless you can find someone else locally who will come help out. Any local dairy farmers who can stop by and do a quick check?

http://www.longshadowfarms.com/milker/1daycalf3.jpg

Hey all,
I had a guy out last night (very experienced in cows), he didnt preg check her, though he thought she was close. Shrug. If she is close, is there a danger in having her preg checked (like setting her into labor, ect)?
I will keep you posted. I just dont have enough experience, and though this guy does, I think it still comes down to each cow? If we can get her preg checked, youre right Jeff, that would be peace of mind. I will see what we can do. Hopefully this same guy will come back later this week and do one.
Thanks all so much for the help here.
One more thing...she is getting, what I first thought was a milk-vein hemmotoma (sp?), but the guy last night said it was actually where her belly button was, and that its normal, though he didtn know what it was called or why it does this. Its very soft and jiggley. Just a soft jiggley mound on the bottle of her belly. What is your experience, anyone, with this, and what is it, and...does it have any baring on when she might be due?
Mary

No, it will not hurt anything to pregnancy check her. When I was at The Graham School we preg checked a cow that was eight months along. When Joe was pulling fecal samples for Johne's testing he said that Essie's calf had kicked him. lol


The swelling is edema and common in first calf heifers.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...R/100_0525.jpg
Is the swelling you see on Juness' belly similair to what you are seeing on your heifer? It was a tad more extreme before she calved and tha calf started nursing.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...R/000_0064.jpg
Or Carina's here?

Salt intake can increase swelling in heavy bred cows/heifers.

Thanks for giving us an update, i will continue to pray for her, for her unborn baby (if she has one), and for you. Good Luck, bye.

The swelling that you are seeing on the udder and naval is edema. It is essentially a build up of fluid. It is very common in young or smaller framed dairy cattle. Often an animal does not have enough body capacity to carry all of the excess fluid build up close to and after calving. While not immediately harmful, the excess fluid will breakdown the udder and the ligaments quicker than on animals that don't have edema.

Thanks,

Casey

Thanks Casey for the info on the edema. I would not have guessed what was going on.
Ill just keep y'all posted on how, and when, it goes...goodness, I hope we are ready here. Dont have to worry about milk fever in heifers right?
LOVED the pics of the cows y'all! Thanks for sending them, that gives me a good idea of what to look for here. Yes, the edema on Juness looks just like what she has (not quite as big...yet. What bread is that cow? She is beautiful!)
From the looks of the pics, I too think we have a bit to go, but Ill keep watch.
Thanks again everyone, this is wonderful to be able to network like this!
Mary

Both Juness and Carina are 3/4 Jersey, 1/4 Norwegian Reds. Their sire, El Tigre, was 1/2 Norwegian Red and 1/2 Jersey. Their dams (Chuck and Hoolie) were/are purebred Jerseys.
Both were first calf heifers, so you can see how extreme some heifers get before calving (Carina calved the day I took that picture).

Salix can help with the edema. We gave our Jersey two shots, and it did seem to help. Another way someone else mentioned here is pre-milk, this will help with that as well. Takes a little bit before it goes down, took 2 weeks for us or so..


Jeff

Got it Jeff. If it gets too bad, Ill look into the Salix.
DTHM, I did a search on the Norwegian Reds, nice looking animals. Though they each had different coloring, none had that striped tiger look to them...I think you have something pretty neat there :o)

Mary

Juness was the only cow I had ever seen with her coloration before...until Belaphron there, her daughter, started maturing. Belaphron is not quite six months and appears to be the mirror imageof her dam at that age. :dance:
Most of the Jersey/Norwegian Red crosses are either black, red, or brindle (generally red with brindle but we do have one brown with brindle and this purple with brindle).

Juness was our highest producer but there is something seriously wrong with her right now and we may lose her. Her front two quarters are both producing bloody milk right now and ehr udder does not go slack after she has been milking. We could blame on her laying wrong in the barn and bruising except that it comes and goes....

Just to be on the safe side I would be prepared for the contingency of a C- section. Call your vet, find out if it can be done on your farm, and if it cannot, have transportation ready to bring her to the vet.