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Surprising due date
I am somewhat surprised with one of the cows due date. The one in question is Sassy, for those familiar. For those not familiar she is a holstein, fairly good sized at 62" at the hip. For those familiar with classification scores, she classified VG85 last fall, with the classifier saying she could go excellent in the future. Either way, a solid cow. Last summer around the middle of June I brought on a heat using a CIDR, and lute. Approx 21 days after, she came into another heat, so I bred her again. The due date was March 28th on the first breeding, the 2nd due date being April 18th, my birthday and hers. Going with the 2nd breeding, and the fact she came into heat the 2nd time, it is why April 18th was sought out. Now back a few weeks ago, she seems BIG, big for being a month off. Thing is, in the last week she is bagging, ligaments near her tailhead are slacking off some, vulva is drooping more, and she is acting closer.
What the surprise is, is this March 28th due date, because of that 2nd heat and I think she even bled out. Proof that they can throw a curve once in a while. Like I said, I think she did, either way she certainly isn't going to make the 18th of April. Ligaments are too far along to go that long. The two main ligaments, the ones that slacken off as she gets closer are starting to loosen. These are the two on either side of the tailhead, near her vulva. These usually go completely slack when they are 24hours or so from calving.
So funny how this works out, 45 days dry, vs the 60 I would have liked, but there is other good news (no I didn't save money on my car insurance), is her udder.
Last year she had some trouble, she had a 100lb bull calf as first calver. Her DCE is 10%, bull I used was 8%, and I did use 8% bulls on my other heifers without troubles. Their DCE is 8-9%, DCE in holsteins is extremely important, would be nice if they did the same with Jerseys, and Swiss. Either way, her right rear quarter would not fill up as fast as her left, or other quarters. This was because she was on her right side for a couple hours, which pinched the quarter. Since cells are what produces milk in there, she damaged the cells present, which made for a slow quarter. I was hoping the 2nd go around would improve. Well it is, both quarters are completely even, no odd sized quarter. Apparently during the past 45 days, the cells have regenerated, had time to recover evenly. This is good, because when it comes time to show, I wont have to bag her right rear up 12 hours more than her other quarters. This wont raise eyebrows to those watching, thinking "ahaaa cheater!". Now I can bag her up for the 18 hours she needs to actually make things ideal for her (she has a lot of capacity in that bag). Makes it easier too, wont have a odd milking, and for classifying for December (I dont like that timeframe, hate to have her not score as well as she could, as she will be stale by then some).
Of course she has to calve first. Hopefully she doesn't throw a calf too early, waits till I get the calf puller Tues-Wed, and has it on Thurs-Friday. My prediction based on past animals, I think she will bag heavy the next 2-3 days, calve by late week. What is good about this earlier than expected calving, is the fact when I go to flush her in June. I wont have a tight, timeframe, forced to the end of June. Instead I can flush her early in June, if all goes well, I get embyros, they stick in the recips, I will have calves earlier in March. Which is ideal for show, and a good timeframe to calve out when their time comes, heifer pending. So heres to Sassy, the base to the future of my herd.
Jeff
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"Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death" Patrick Henry, March 23rd, 1775
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