Blind cow

Awnry Abe · #21 05/18/14, 07:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FarmerDavid

Why do you say they are wasted? I've talked with several local farmers that have had accidents and got a heifer bred young and still made a good cow. Even know one guy that does it on purpose, claims by doing that and continually moving his breeding season up he gets an extra calf out of a cow in her life time. I'm certainly not advocating that just curious why you say it wastes them?

Only say it because I have the bone pile to back it up. My very first season with a group of heifers, I lacked the patience, resources, skill, ability, wisdom, etc. to run a group of heifers apart from the herd, so I tossed them back in with everyone after weaning. That put calving at 24 months, give or take. I had a mix of success(luck) and tragedy. Taken collectively, it appears at this point that I gained nothing. I suppose if I had a particular bull, and particular heifers, I could do it. But my starter herd is complete randomness in the gene pool. So I am going to continue to do as I do now and turn them in when the bull comes out in March, so they will be ready when he comes back in June. That will be 30 months, give or take. I am pretty hopeful that this 6 months will make a difference.

G. Seddon · #22 05/18/14, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Awnry Abe

I am pretty hopeful that this 6 months will make a difference.

I bet it will.

FarmerDavid · #23 05/18/14, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by G. Seddon

What I have learned is that breeding too early puts both the heifer and her calf at risk.

While the heifer may have reached puberty, she is not physically mature, she is still growing and her growth will be negatively affected by being pregnant. Some people think that a heifer should be at least 15 months old about 60-65% of her adult weight when first bred. (When we keep a heifer, I bump that time up so that she will calve in either fall or spring...heifer might be 20 months old, which is fine by me.)

There are risks of injury associated with breeding a young/small heifer to a mature bull.

She is not emotionally mature; she'll make a better mother when she's a bit older (less likely to reject the calf and more likely to nurture it).

The younger she is, the greater the chance of dystocia (difficult birth) and breeding back will probably take longer.

Yes, you might get an additional calf out of a cow over her lifetime, but why do this at the expense of your cow's health?

If you realize that a heifer has been bred too young, your vet can give an injection to terminate that pregnancy. It won't affect her breeding in the future.

I'm sure other people can chime in on this too.

I've just been asking because I have a heifer that got bred young and I'm trying to decide if I should give her a shot or not. It almost is funny to hear the differences in experiences, opinions and advice. With that I'm not talking about on here I'm talking about farmers in my community. I really feel that they are genuine in their advice. Most everyone here breds heifers to calve at 24months. The guy that breds young intentionally will AI on their second heat. He claims to not have alot of problems and he watches them like a hawk when its time to calve. His approach is 100% not for me but he dôes have nice cattle.

I'd been leaning towards giving my heifer the shot but the curiosity of the 22vs24 months with her led me to ask several questions. The wasted comment just made me ask more. When is to late to give the shot to a heifer?

G. Seddon · #24 05/18/14, 11:34 AM

I think it can be given between 8 and 60 days after exposure to the bull. But you should check with your vet before giving it (you'd have to get the drug from the vet anyway).

sv.maple · #25 05/19/14, 09:23 PM

U can give shot at any time. If just bred or late preg she WILL abort the calf.

tommyanunnaki · #26 05/19/14, 11:01 PM

I had a 4H steer when I was a kid that somehow poked his eye out on an S hook that we used to latch the gate. To this day I don't know how he managed to do it. He went on to have a normal life. He would cock his head around to look at stuff. He didn't make a very good show calf. He would always cock his head around to look at stuff when I was trying to get his feet set.

FarmerDavid · #27 05/25/14, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by G. Seddon

I think it can be given between 8 and 60 days after exposure to the bull. But you should check with your vet before giving it (you'd have to get the drug from the vet anyway).

My heifer I thought was bred is in heat so I dodged that bullet!

65284 · #28 05/30/14, 04:56 PM

When I was a youngster a neighbor gave me a blind calf, 1/2 Holstein 1/2 Guernsey. I bottle raised her and became my nurse cow and she was a 4 legged milk factory, she raised a lot of bull calves from nearby dairies. Back then bull calves were given away or knocked in the head.

She had exclusive use of a part of a small barn and her own 5 acre pasture. She quickly learned her way around and never had any problems. She raised 8-10 calves a year for about 8 years, the best mama cow a person could ask for.