Is she pregnant? Or wishful thinking?
 

We are complete newbies at farming and cows so what did we do? Bought a cow of course! :o) I've been trying to read as much as I can and talk to people who have had cows but I'm at a loss. I keep getting different answers. So here goes:
We bought this heifer in October, named her Lillie Belle, and had her AI'd on December 1. The guy who did the AI told us the price included him coming back to do a blood test. We never heard back from him. Numerous calls to him and the "friend" who gave us his number were not returned and when we did talk to him, he acted like he intended to come back to check then never showed up and had many creative excuses why. Anyway, we never got a definite answer if she was bred. Sometime around May or June, I could see movement (I think) and we got excited that we would have a calf and soon have milk! She has gotten really big (I think, though looking at pictures on here, I'm not sure!) and we saw a bit of development on her bag. From what I've read, she would probably calve early, being a Jersey heifer with a heifer calf. But her due date would have been October 9, 2 1/2 weeks ago. She hasn't acted like anything is different and now I'm wondering if the thought of a calf is just wishful thinking on my part. I can feel what I believe to be the calf moving every day but I've never been around cows, what do I know? Not nearly enough! She had changes in her vulva about a month ago and I really thought we were about to have a calf but nothing ever happened. Everyone I have talked to says, give her time, go off for the day and you'll come back and she'll have a calf, but nothing. We have had 3 people look at her (not an exam though) and say, oh, yeah, she's just not ready yet. Even when we called the vet and asked specifically, when do we get worried, they said there is really no time limit, just be ready to get help if she goes into hard labor and doesn't deliver within an hour. I have pictures and hope you can tell me something. Is it possible we could still have a calf and she is nearly 3 weeks over? Does she even look pregnant?
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And I should have said, My name is Tammy. I haven't commented or posted on here, just trying to read all I can. Thanks!

Better start looking for a bull to borrow. She should be bagged up harder. Really hard to tell anything from pics Oct 9 is a week from now and your saying she is 2 1/2 weeks over ? In any case I would expect to see more udder and vulva signs on a close up cow

She doesn't look pregnant to me. The 1st photo, from behind, is the basis for that opinion. Where she looks rounded out on the left, that's her rumen. She should be a lot rounder than that if she is due to calve, and would be bulging out on the right side too. Also, no bag development, although some cows do that at the very last minute anyway.

Sorry, the due date was September 9, not October. I'm getting sadder at every post :-(

Find a reputable AI person or vet and try again. She should have been preg checked long ago, you don't want to wait 9 months and then start all over. A good AI person would have checked her soon after as AI doesn't always take. Maybe you do have a neighbor with a bull where you could work out a deal or turn her out with their cows.

From the pictures, I'd say she's not pregnant (no udder development).

I'm also of the opinion that she is not bred. you can pull blood and sent it in to check for pregnancy. use www.biotracking.com, look up your closest lab and send blood, form, and a check in. that's what we do with our beef cattle.

I would also be careful of her weight. for a dairy breed, she looks kinda fat to me. others can chime in on that. (it can make getting her bred harder)

Thanks, y'all. Though I was sure hoping for a different answer. I'm trying not be angry at the guy who did the AI but, man! Why can't people just do what they say they are going to do???

It sure is tough playing the waiting game with dairy. Udder development is the best late term indicator in a dairy cow. I just had a brown Swiss calf last week. Based on frame alone, I did not think she was pregnant. She looked similar to yours. But big bags tell no lie.

Make sure she has free choice loose mineral (important for fertility) and good forage/hay. She looks like a very nice girl. I'd say you did well on a first pick.

She really is a good girl. We haven't had any problems with her. I keep saying we got lucky because we got her at the auction (yeah, I know better now) and we really didn't know what we were looking for. It will be a couple of months before we can afford another AI but we will definitely do much more research on the person we get to do it.

success with AI is, at best, 65%. next AI tech you get, see if they can use a CIDR first. it might help with the timing, improving your chances...

She doesn't look pregnant at all to me. AI is not a sure thing especially with one try. I only got 75% of mine settled this year and used a bull to get the rest. You need to be getting them preg checked sooner or you are wasting money on feed.

Coming from auction could be a freemartin...i would get get vet checked,maybe ai guy knew ??
vet can most likely give u a reference for good ai person

She doesn't look pregnant to me either. Back to the beginning though, since you say you knew nothing: on what basis did you get her inseminated? How did you know she was on heat or that it was the right time? Have you seen any signs of heat since?

It's hard to miss every single sign of every heat in a fertile heifer. At some stage they'll get restless or noisy, or have mucus, even if there aren't any other cattle around.

But if she's your only one, I think you were conned on 1 December by someone who knew where to get a plastic glove and didn't mind five minutes of smelly-hand!

Of course there is much more to the story than the little bit I've shared. We did have her checked by the vet right after we got her. He said she was not pregnant but he saw no reason she couldn't get pregnant. We asked around and found the AI tech, he gave her the shot to put her in heat and came back 48 hours later to do the AI. He worked for a while and said her cervix had a twist in it and he thought he had gotten it straightened out. He did 1 straw but since it had taken a little while he pulled another 1 just to have a better chance. He really seemed genuine and seemed to know what he was doing. I don't know why he wouldn't come back and kept giving us excuses but we won't be calling him to do another AI! We knew it wasn't a guarantee but when she really started filling out about May-June and she had a little bit of bag development, I thought maybe... I'm looking now for someone else to check her.

The AI guy seems legit. It might have just been plane ol' inconvenience to come back out. It can happen. The timing he did for the AI is right. Some times it just doesn't take for whatever reason. If he used 2 straws when he *could* have got by with just one, he might not be that bad. Just learn how to pull blood and send it in to preg check yourself. (you can have results back before a vet can check her. AND its cheaper...)

I would guess that the AI timing was off. I believe it takes 3 to 5 days for heat following an injection of Lutalyse (is that what he used?). It would not work if she had just ovulated. I think that is why some people follow up with a second shot about 10 days later.

You may have to employ a different system of timed breeding using drugs and a CIDR insert.

Get your vet's advice or contact another AI person (nearby dairies might be able to help you).

I'm far more cynical about that one: I'd be suspicious he knew he hadn't got the first one in the right place and wanted to pull out and have another go, in the hope things had repositioned themselves by his doing so.

You never know maybe the semen was old and questionable .