How far along?

Rockfish · #1 01/30/12, 10:16 AM

How can I tell how far along my jersey is in her pregnancy. She was preg checked in August by a friend who told me he "thought" she caught. Then in January checked again (because we had seen suspicious activity with the bull, but no actual standing heat) and he said she was definitely with calf, but probably not too far along. He caveat that he was used to checking beef cows, so he could be wrong on the size.

I don't know whether to dry her off cause I don't have a due date. Can a vet tell, or is there someway I can figure it out.

Thanks.

Karen in Alabam · #2 01/30/12, 11:26 AM

When I brought my Sissy to the vet, he confirmed she was about 6 months pregnant.

When I brought Yo in because she wasn't feeling good, he told me she was about 2 months.

G. Seddon · #3 01/30/12, 12:19 PM

In my experience, vets are great at determining pregnant or open, but even they may have some difficulty determining exactly how far along. It sounds iffy to me, checked in August, again in January, bull being interested.

Using ultrasound might help. Get your vet out to check so you have a better idea?

TroutRiver · #4 01/31/12, 12:04 PM

A vet should be able to tell you approximately how far along she is just with a manual examination. We have never had to ultrasound a cow, our vet has always been accurate when preg checking our beef cows.

MO_cows · #5 01/31/12, 01:04 PM

When they feel the calf, the size of it is supposed to also tell how far along. They have to be 45 days or so along to even be able to detect the pregnancy reliably by palpation.

It sounds like she wasn't actually pregnant yet in August, or else it is a tiny calf.

Yvonne's hubby · #6 01/31/12, 02:56 PM

I can never tell when my cows are pregnant. I just presume they are because every year about this time I start finding itty bitty calves in the pasture that werent there last week.

G. Seddon · #7 01/31/12, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TroutRiver

A vet should be able to tell you approximately how far along she is just with a manual examination. We have never had to ultrasound a cow, our vet has always been accurate when preg checking our beef cows.

We've got Dexters, so being a small breed might make it a bit more challenging for the vet who is palpating the cow. I believe that ultrasound can be done at about 30 days' post-breeding. Of course, that does not mean the pregnancy is going to stick.