Heifers Bag

[randm]

We have a herd of cattle on our place. In the main pasture I have a heifer that is at least a couple years old. They all run with a hereford bull. There is a heifer that is the same age as mine and her bag is getting rather full. Mine however doesn't have much of one but she is WIDE. I am getting to the point where if she doesn't calve this year I want to sell her and buy another heifer or proven cow, as I am trying to build up a herd. At what point will her bag start to fill out?

I will try to grab some pictures of her tonight and post them. Thanks for any input.

I forgot to mention, she is a brangus heifer.

[MO_cows]

Some cows bag up weeks before calving, some it happens in hours. Watch for swelling, sloppiness of the vulva.

Brangus is part Brahman (bos indicus strain), known to be later to mature than the Angus (bos taurus). Have you done any research if this trait carries over to the Brangus composite?

Preg checking would be a good idea. It can pay for itself by not feeding open/barren cows until they are supposed to calve, then figuring out they were open the whole time.

[randm]

The heifer has been with a bull all along. She came out of some cows out of one of the other pastures my family has cows on. I do not know her parents specifically. When I first moved here I showed an interest in getting into cattle and was given this heifer by my father. He doesn't live here he just keeps a few out and gets a check in the mail when they take one of his calves to sale. I don't pay anything to feed this heifer but she gets grass and in the winter she was getting hay and range cubes. All of the cattle have a trace mineral block available in the pasture. As far as vaccinations I do not know. I know the last group of calves were sent to the local vet for vaccines and ear tags.

I suppose since I have nothing invested in her, I have nothing to really lose. I will try to get some pictures tonight.

[SpaceCadet12364]

If she is getting real wide the calf maybe turning around. If so then you have 8 weeks to wait. Turning around takes about a week if this is the case she will slim back down.

[randm]

I agree with the mineral blocks, I recently bought two heifer calves and I am keeping them in my back yard, I offer them free choice loose mineral. I gave them an 8-way vaccine, wormed them with ivomec pour on and put ear tags in before turning them out of the weaning pen into fresh grass. I did not even think about a booster, I hope they actually get the benefit of the 8-way shot.

[randm]

Ok here are some photos I just took.

Bear in mind, I was told she had brangus in her, not 100% on breed. Bull is nudging my truck now. Guess he wants me to leave lol

Her vulva does not look sloppy at all..

[sv.maple]

Looks like shes full on feed. What does the right side of her look like? The right side is where calf would be and left is stomach

[randm]

I don't have a proper chute and head gate available, I have a loading/unloading chute at the weaning pen. I just might do a blood draw and have it looked at. I am a firm believer in not feeding an animal that is not producing something, that would also tell me if she is short on any minerals right?

[G. Seddon]

I think you send a blood sample to Biopryn for pregnancy testing.

http://www.biotracking.com/

For a micro mineral panel, you'll need a special blood tube (blue top) and the sample would go to Michigan State University (there are probably others that do similar testing). Results will include Cobalt, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum, Selenium, and Zinc. Your vet could help you with this.

http://animalhealth.msu.edu/

[randm]

Hehe thats how i have to work my cattle, I hate it, I want a proper headgate but they arent cheap. I tried getting her in the other night but didnt have luck. We will work on it again. We will find out what is going on with this heifer

[idigbeets]

Not having a head catch is a recipe for disaster if you are working cattle.... it is worth the investment, and they hold value well if you sell it later.

You could send a blood test out for preg, or pay the vet to come in and do a preg check. Ours charges $40 for a farm visit, and does a checkup as well on the cow while he's here.

[randm]

She dropped a black baldie bull calf yesterday!

[randm]

Thanks!
Yes, everything went fine, she had it on her own, no assistance, my papa called me Saturday night and said he saw her with him, I have been checking on him, they both seem to be doing fine.

[G. Seddon]

Guess she had some of us (me) fooled; I'd have sworn she wasn't even pregnant by the photo! Congratulations!

[aoconnor1]

Congrats on the calf! Those darned first time heifers can fool a body for sure!