Unusual occurrence

willow_girl · #1 07/20/13, 06:47 AM

A Holstein on the farm where I work was due on June 26, but didn't calve until July 18!

She didn't start bagging up until shortly before she calved, either -- in fact, my boss almost put her on the truck Monday, thinking she wasn't bred!

We don't use a clean-up bull, and we're pretty scrupulous about recording breedings, so the chances are slim that she actually was settled by a later breeding.

Had a bull calf -- a big one, but not abnormally huge or anything. It was her second calf.

One of life's little mysteries!

G. Seddon · #2 07/20/13, 07:19 AM

Wow, that's about one full cycle late. Well, glad she calved okay!

Bret · #3 07/20/13, 10:19 AM

When she was ready i guess.

myheaven · #4 07/20/13, 04:31 PM

It's amazing how they can throw us for a loop some times.

waterbuffy · #5 07/20/13, 07:41 PM

I've known 1 holstein to go 5 1/2 weeks over. I never would have believed it except she was bred once to a browb swiss bull and the calf was a HUGE swiss cross calf. Calf didn't live but the cow was ok.

**gone-a-milkin** · #6 07/20/13, 08:43 PM

When stuff like that happens around here I just say that she must have been wearing her eartag backwards that week.
Dyslexic Farmer Boss is my guess.

willow_girl · #7 07/20/13, 09:06 PM

Well, we keep a running tally of breedings in a notebook -- cow number, date, bull code and name -- so it's not like the wrong date was typed into a computer.

I like the thing about the backwards eartag, though! Gotta remember that one ...

**gone-a-milkin** · #8 07/20/13, 09:31 PM

Sometimes a cow will get herself an extra breeding though and somehow not get recorded.

It happens.