Newbie Cow Questions

bama-newsteader · #1 01/06/12, 06:49 PM

Hi Everyone,
I have been lurking on this forum for about a month and am quite impressed with the wealth of information shared here. I have some cow questions and I apologize in advance for them being so basic, but this seems like a safe forum for asking.

We purchased a couple of angus cow/calf pairs over a year ago and kept them at my sister's place until 1 month ago. This is our first time raising cows and our first time being with them on a day-to-day basis. We sold our 2 bull calves, had another bull calf, and purchased a 2yo black angus bull. So currently we have our bull, two cows and one 6mo bull calf.

I think my girls are bred - but not to our new bull. I think one will be calving soon. So here are my questions:

What signs do you look for to tell when a cow is in heat?

What signs do you look for to tell if she is bred?

What are the signs that she will deliver soon?

Thanks so much!
Robin

tinknal · #2 01/06/12, 08:09 PM

If a cow is in heat and the bull is with her it will be obvious. Even with another cow they will usually tell you. There will be a lot of riding and horseing around.

When a cow is near calving her vulva will loosen up and swell and they usually bag up in the udder.

As far as telling if they are bred it is hard to describe. for the first 6 or seven months it takes an experienced person to determine if they are bred. Last couple of months it starts to become noticeable.

6e · #3 01/06/12, 10:20 PM

Or like a friend of mine, every time his cow is in heat she bellers constantly and finds every hole and weak spot in the fence and then goes exploring around town. As soon as she's out of heat she stops that.

Karin L · #4 01/06/12, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bama-newsteader

Hi Everyone,
I have been lurking on this forum for about a month and am quite impressed with the wealth of information shared here. I have some cow questions and I apologize in advance for them being so basic, but this seems like a safe forum for asking.

We purchased a couple of angus cow/calf pairs over a year ago and kept them at my sister's place until 1 month ago. This is our first time raising cows and our first time being with them on a day-to-day basis. We sold our 2 bull calves, had another bull calf, and purchased a 2yo black angus bull. So currently we have our bull, two cows and one 6mo bull calf.

I think my girls are bred - but not to our new bull. I think one will be calving soon. So here are my questions:

What signs do you look for to tell when a cow is in heat?

She'll be moving around a lot, bellering a lot, and often stir up the herd. Your bull will be paying a lot more attention to her than normal, and often be testing her, doing the flehmen response on her (drinking her urine and curling his lip back to test the fluid for pheromones), resting his chin on her flanks, attempting to mount, etc. She may be riding other cows and the bull, and the other cows and the bull will attempt to rider her too. Even the little bull calf will be more interested in her than usual, and may attempt to mount her. Her vulva may even look a bit more swollen than usual. A couple days after estrus she will often have a little bloody discharge afterwards.

What signs do you look for to tell if she is bred?

If you haven't caught the bull with her, you can always tell she's been serviced by the way she's holding her tail out. Most cows will be holding their tail out or have a little bit of a crick in it at least 24 hours after being bred. Her coat along her flanks and rumps will also look a bit ruffled too. This is also a sign that she's either in heat, been in heat or is bred already.

Another thing is that she won't be coming back into heat if you watch for signs 21, 45 and 90 days after her estimated breeding date. The best way to make sure she's bred is two either have a blood test done, or get a rectal palpation done on her.

What are the signs that she will deliver soon?

As tinknal mentioned, her vulva will really start to loosen up, and be quite a bit larger and floppier than usual. Her tail-head will also drop down as her pelvic bones start to spread out, and I think may have a bit of clear discharge too. She will also start to bag up: udder starts to fill up with milk and teats get full-looking. Her belly will also drop within 24 hours of calving. When she has a orangy-sack hanging out from her vulva you know she's going to drop a calf within minutes.

Thanks so much!
Robin

Just curious, but what do you plan on doing with the bull calf?

bama-newsteader · #5 01/07/12, 01:54 PM

Thanks so much for the replies! Havah is definitely showing signs that she will drop a calf soon, but I dont know if that's in a few days, a week or a month. I will try to get some pictures of her today in between raindrops. I am leaving on Thursday for a 3-week trip and am hoping to see a calf before I go.

Karin, for our bull calf, our plan is to send him to freezer camp in a year or so. He's 6 months old now. We also plan on getting one more cow, probably in the spring.

bama-newsteader · #6 01/07/12, 04:15 PM

https://picasaweb.google.com/rzarmst...P76rcn7jqnEEw#

I am not sure if this link above will work, but I took some photos of Havah today and I am hoping you can give me an idea of how much longer it might be before she delivers.

lonelyfarmgirl · #7 01/07/12, 05:49 PM

soon but not tomorrow would be my guess.
has she been standing off by herself?

bama-newsteader · #8 01/07/12, 05:55 PM

Yes, she is standing off alone frequently, and she has been doing so since she has been on our farm for the last month or so. I also noticed that when the other cows are laying down in the pasture, she always seems to be up and foraging. I am not sure if that means anything, but it was something I have observed.

Thank you all for your insightful comments! I posted a reply earlier but I dont see it in the thread.

Karin, we will likely butcher the bull calf in a year or so.

tinknal · #9 01/07/12, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bama-newsteader

https://picasaweb.google.com/rzarmst...P76rcn7jqnEEw#

I am not sure if this link above will work, but I took some photos of Havah today and I am hoping you can give me an idea of how much longer it might be before she delivers.

It's an inexact science, but I would say she is at least a week away if not more. I've seen them swell and bag up and then wait 2 weeks to calve, and I've seen them look like yours and then calve the next day. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

G. Seddon · #10 01/07/12, 06:04 PM

You might want to get a copy of "Essential Guide to Calving" by Heather Smith Thomas, a useful book. You can also google "signs of imminent calving" and pull up many websites with information on what to look for. Read as much as you can so you'll recognize signs that the cow is close. Karin L has provided some good info!

Karin L · #11 01/07/12, 06:07 PM

I'm with everyone else here: you probably won't see a calf on the ground until at least a week from now...or even more, since you didn't say when she was likely bred. When do you think she was bred, btw?

ETA: from the side view picture her belly hasn't dropped down yet. When her belly drops down a bit more than what she's showing, then she'll be pretty close...maybe 72 hours, give or take...to dropping a calf.

bama-newsteader · #12 01/07/12, 07:33 PM

Honestly we had no idea that she was bred until we started seeing these signs a couple of weeks ago. While the herd was at my sister's farm, both of our cows calved at the same time in May 2010, then only the red one calved in July 2011. We thought there might have been an issue with Havah since she didnt calf in 2011. They sent the main bull to freezer camp last May, and we only had three bull calves in the pasture from that point on, which really werent old enough or big enough to breed (or so we thought).

So Havah must have been bred by the main bull sometime before May. We werent living on the farm at this time so we didnt see her very much.

Turns out, the one bull calf we kept until mid-Dec was actually able to breed. We found out a few days after he went to freezer camp that my sister's Jersey was 2 months bred. We really wanted some new bloodlines so we purchased a new bull and put him in with the girls in December, thinking that they were not bred, but now we know that at least Havah is.

Thanks again for all the insights and great information. I am really hoping she drops her calf before next Thursday when I leave for a 3 week business trip.

Karin L · #13 01/07/12, 10:59 PM

Is it possible that you can get her preg-checked by a vet to see how far along she is? I also think that if she was bred sometime in May, it's possible she may not calve until February, so you may have nothing to worry about until February rolls around. I could be wrong, but it's something to consider.

Karin L · #14 01/09/12, 05:39 PM

Another question for you: any reason why you avoided or did not castrate the bull calves? Just a note: if you leave the bull calves with the cows even if the herd bull is in with them, there's a chance that those bull calves, when they get to breeding age (even when you think they're not in breeding age), will breed with those cows. So if the next calf is a bull, castrate him soon to avoid any problems in the future.