Hiding a calf while in Gestation

landlord · #1 10/21/04, 10:57 AM

Can a large boned cow hide a calf during gestation? Her hip bones are wider than the other Simmentals, They are due in the middle of Dec. The other two seem to have a larger gut but yet all three of them are shaped differently. Missy, the red, deep bodied, wide hips, does not have as large of a gut as the others. This will be Missy's first calf. Curly, #2, is a smaller cow but she gives everything she eats to the calf. She had a huge bull last time, by herself. The third, Baldy. is taller but nice and fleshy with a gut on her too.

OD · #2 10/21/04, 11:18 AM

They sure can. We have a big boned cow like that, & the way to tell if she is going to have a calf is when you see it following her. All the other cows go off by themselves to have their calves, but this year, she had hers going from the shade tree to the water tub one afternoon. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

uncle Will in In. · #3 10/21/04, 12:10 PM

You can tell if a cow that is within three months of delivey time is going to have a calf by thumping her in the left side with your thumb. The calf will be near the outside of the stomach wall on the left. Where it bulges out the farthest about a foot ahead of the leg and about level with the top of her bag, you place your thumb tight against the hide and shove in as hard as you can a couple times quickly. If you hit something hard, its her calf. Takes practice to find the right spot. Sale barns used to thump cows all the time to tell if they were going to freshen. The ring man would give her a couple hard pokes and announce, "She's bumpin' a hard calf." Now days the in barn vet sleeves them and feels around for the calf, and what stage of developement the calf is in. Having done that he will take a paint stick and wright what month of lactation the cow is in.

uncle Will in In. · #4 10/21/04, 12:12 PM

You can tell if a cow that is within three months of delivey time is going to have a calf by thumping her in the right side with your thumb. The calf will be near the outside of the stomach wall on the right. Where it bulges out the farthest about a foot ahead of the leg and about level with the top of her bag, you place your thumb tight against the hide and shove in as hard as you can a couple times quickly. If you hit something hard, its her calf. Takes practice to find the right spot. Sale barns used to thump cows all the time to tell if they were going to freshen. The ring man would give her a couple hard pokes and announce, "She's bumpin' a hard calf." Now days the in barn vet sleeves them and feels around for the calf, and what stage of developement the calf is in. Having done that he will take a paint stick and wright what month of lactation the cow is in.

uncle Will in In. · #5 10/23/04, 02:11 AM

That looks like a double post, but they are different. In the first one I said left side but that's wrong. The second one says right side which is correct.

tinknal · #6 10/23/04, 02:30 AM

A large framed cow can easily hide a calf. Watch the udder and the vagina any changes will indicate future events. Another clue is bulliness (heat) If the cow is acting like she is not in heat , she is probably bred. If she continues to show heat she is open.

willow_girl · #7 10/23/04, 03:46 PM

Thank you Uncle Will for that info, you old timers have a lot of knowledge and I always enjoy hearing it.

dosthouhavemilk · #8 10/29/04, 03:31 AM

I love bumping calves. I just bumped one of our goats today as well. I like to be able to bump a calf before we dry a cow up. Especially if she was pregnancy checked within the first few months of gestation. I have gotten to the point where I can bump a calf at as early as 5 months if a cow is lying just right. Though by seven months (when we dry them up) it is much simpler. With Simone we were pretty worried. I had been trying to bump her for a week with no luck. She was confirmed pregnant, and the problem was that she makes great use of pasture and was always full when she came in, so her calf was always hiding. I finally bumped it and it was small. I figured she was having a heifer and sure enough two months later Jacquee joined us.

When Dare was about two weeks away from calving we had some kids in from a city, and some kids from the Meeting over and they all got turns at "bumping the calf" Dare just stood there for it.

There are times when you have to go all the way down and bump on her lower belly before you will find anything. With some of the really early gestational pregnancies I generally find them just in front of the udder along the belly. I bump both sides, usually in hopes I will get a calf to come out of hiding. :haha:

But yeah, cows can hide a pregnancy pretty well.