Five days late... ugh

cjb · #1 09/04/10, 02:30 PM

Violet was due on Monday and has been leaking milk for over a week. She has that sunken tail head look but otherwise is acting completely normal.

Maybe it's just the calf wait blues but I'm starting to wish that I had her preg checked to be sure.

She has a big belly, milk (although not a lot), dripping milk and her tail is curved and sunken.

Looks calf-like, right?!? Right?

Five days late... ugh - Cattle

Chixarecute · #2 09/04/10, 04:00 PM

It's only a matter of time, now!

cjb · #3 09/04/10, 04:01 PM

I hope so. She usually really bags up tight but she's not and I never had her preg checked. I will be soooooo mad and embarassed if she's just fat.

cjb · #4 09/04/10, 04:18 PM

I just took this pic of her tail end. You can't really see her "exit" so well but it doesn't look different at all.

Could she have come into small scale milk and not be preggers? Gads.

Five days late... ugh - Cattle

Last year, one day before delivery
Five days late... ugh - Cattle

I guess it looks more relaxed in second pic?

tinknal · #5 09/04/10, 04:53 PM

If she was dry, and is now leaking milk, she is bred....

Get ahold of yourself man!

cjb · #6 09/04/10, 05:37 PM

I did stop milking her but can't say that I checked closely to be sure that she dried completely out. I am wondering if she just leaked the whole time and kept giving milk.

I know, I know... I should stop worrying but, if you spent any time in the goat forum, you would know that I once bred all of my goats, watched them get big, one even came into milk and absolutely none of them kidded.

The goat folks will laugh HARD if that happened again but with my cow.

I will, however, not think that it is funny.

oneokie · #7 09/04/10, 06:03 PM

In the top pic of post #5 there is not as much sunken area as there is in the second pic forward of the pin bone. In the second pic of your first post the area between the last rib and the hook bone does not look to be sunken enough to indicate close calving time. That area is usually very well defined triangular area when partituation is near.

Have you noticed any mucous discharge? As to vulva enlargement prior to calving, that is an iffy indicator.

willow_girl · #8 09/04/10, 07:01 PM

How long has it been since you dried her off?

**gone-a-milkin** · #9 09/04/10, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willow_girl

How long has it been since you dried her off?

This.

& also has the calf been kept away from her?
Like really, really away, (not in an adjoining pen).

She doesn't have that really juicy, about to pop, swollen look
like they normally get. (like in the pic from last year)

You never had her preg-checked?

dosthouhavemilk · #10 09/05/10, 01:17 AM

Have you tried bumping a calf? If she is overdue, you really ought not have any trouble finding a calf in there at this stage by bumping.
We always make sure we can bump a calf a couple of times before we dry a cow off. Even if they are confirmed bred prior to dry off.

That vulva shot does not look like what I would expect.
But considering her age, and number of calves, they can get ready lickety split and spit that baby out without much warning.

cjb · #11 09/05/10, 03:11 AM

She was dried out 2 months ago and I agree, she just doesn't look imminent and certainly should at 6 days past the due date. Problem is, I'm wondering if she didn't quite stop producing milk and has just been leaking it.

No, her yearling calf has NOT been near her or in adjoining pen at all so that's not it. I see no discharge at all.

I did not preg check her because she has always settled on the first breeding and she seemed to stop cycling after the breeding. She also got noticeably larger.

If no calf comes, I wonder if I should just restart milking her and see if I can milk her through? I would, of course, breed her back again.

Ugh!

cjb · #12 09/05/10, 03:12 AM

I don't get bumping and never have so wouldnn't be much good there.

That second pic was actually taken weeks ago. She is far more sunken now.

Mystery to me. I guess a couple more days without a calf will prove that I've been duped!

willow_girl · #13 09/05/10, 07:44 AM

How about a pic of her udder?

francismilker · #14 09/05/10, 12:58 PM

In that very first pic you posted I sure don't see any signs of swollen vagina. I'd guess that cow to be bred but not close. You never know though. "A watched cow never calves!"

matt_man · #15 09/05/10, 01:20 PM

I take it that the pics in post #4 were not taken the same day? If you only showed the first one, I would say not bred...her vulva is not swollen at all and ligaments are tight. But in the second pic she looks swollen and her ligaments look relaxed.

And FWIW, my Daisy did not bag up really tight this year like she usually does but her udder grew hourly the day she calved. Front quarters were tight but not the rear.

thaiblue12 · #16 09/05/10, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjb

The goat folks will laugh HARD if that happened again but with my cow.

I will, however, not think that it is funny.

We goat folks would never laugh at you....HARD. It would be soft and kind laughing

I sure hope your cow is pregnant!

cjb · #17 09/05/10, 09:09 PM

Mattman - in post #4, that is a pic of my cow THAT day. The second pic was just before she delivered a year ago.

I am convinced that she is not bred, which truly sucks. Weird, though, that she grew a big, fat stomach and came into milk.

cjb · #18 09/05/10, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by francismilker

In that very first pic you posted I sure don't see any signs of swollen vagina. I'd guess that cow to be bred but not close. You never know though. "A watched cow never calves!"

She was AI'd and there are no bulls even in the area so she is not pregnant, I'm certain.

oneokie · #19 09/05/10, 09:26 PM

Do you know how to palpate the cow yourself?

Creamers · #20 09/06/10, 02:22 PM

She looks SO round. . .but I guess, like with Goats, it is hard to be sure by looking at her.

The truly does suck