Post by Mitra on Apr 11, 2010 12:26:21 GMT -5
I don't want to hijack Lannie's bumping post so here's another calf bumping question. Would bumping be affected by things like the cow having just gorged herself with hay?
I have not had Nellie's pregnancy confirmed. I have been assuming that she's bred. She was AI'd 10 days before I brought her home and that was 7 months ago. She's a young gal compared to Helen, at only 5 years old. This would be her third pregnancy and her other two pregnancies, she took on the first AI attempt. She's not shown any signs of heat since coming here. So I have been cruising along, waiting for the day that I could bump the calf and THAT would be my confirmation. Well a couple fo weeks ago, I thought I felt "something" but haven't felt anything since. I decided that since she wasn't quite 7 months along that not feeling the calf was not that big of a deal because I have no experience, etc.
Then yesterday I was talking to my dairy farmer neighbor and told him that I was starting the drying off process. He said, "Have you bumped the calf?" Well yes and no He has now firmly planted a seed of doubt. Today another dairy farmer was over at our place delivering some beautiful hay. I wanted him to see my little gang of three cows. The farmer and his helper both went out to the barnyard with me and we stared at and talked "cows" for awhile. I told him what my neighbor had said and they both said, "want me to bump her for you right now?" So they both tried and the helper (he went first) commented that she had obviously just eaten a bunch and that it was hard to tell. The dairy farmer then had a go (he is 8o years old and has been dairy farming his entire life) and he wasn't having much success either. He said that " she probably is bred" but he wasn't sure. So now I'm a little freaked out especially with two posts in this sections the last two days where people are learning their cows are not bred and in one case dried off and not bred
In 9 days Nellie will actually be 7 months preggers (if she is). Over the last week that I have started a slow drying off process I have brought her milk from almost 4 gallons a day OAD to 3 gallons a day OAD, by reducing her grain and the quality of hay she's getting. I'm going to hold her at 3 gallons for the next nine days to see if I can feel that baby when she's actually 7 months bred. The dairy farmer also said she had discharge which made him think she was bred. His helper then said, "and her tail has yellow on it and that usually means they're bred." Now I wasn't sure at all what he was talking about...the blond hairs in her twitch or was he seeing some yellow goop that I wasn't.
So all that to say, is there a better time of day to bump a calf?
I have not had Nellie's pregnancy confirmed. I have been assuming that she's bred. She was AI'd 10 days before I brought her home and that was 7 months ago. She's a young gal compared to Helen, at only 5 years old. This would be her third pregnancy and her other two pregnancies, she took on the first AI attempt. She's not shown any signs of heat since coming here. So I have been cruising along, waiting for the day that I could bump the calf and THAT would be my confirmation. Well a couple fo weeks ago, I thought I felt "something" but haven't felt anything since. I decided that since she wasn't quite 7 months along that not feeling the calf was not that big of a deal because I have no experience, etc.
Then yesterday I was talking to my dairy farmer neighbor and told him that I was starting the drying off process. He said, "Have you bumped the calf?" Well yes and no He has now firmly planted a seed of doubt. Today another dairy farmer was over at our place delivering some beautiful hay. I wanted him to see my little gang of three cows. The farmer and his helper both went out to the barnyard with me and we stared at and talked "cows" for awhile. I told him what my neighbor had said and they both said, "want me to bump her for you right now?" So they both tried and the helper (he went first) commented that she had obviously just eaten a bunch and that it was hard to tell. The dairy farmer then had a go (he is 8o years old and has been dairy farming his entire life) and he wasn't having much success either. He said that " she probably is bred" but he wasn't sure. So now I'm a little freaked out especially with two posts in this sections the last two days where people are learning their cows are not bred and in one case dried off and not bred
In 9 days Nellie will actually be 7 months preggers (if she is). Over the last week that I have started a slow drying off process I have brought her milk from almost 4 gallons a day OAD to 3 gallons a day OAD, by reducing her grain and the quality of hay she's getting. I'm going to hold her at 3 gallons for the next nine days to see if I can feel that baby when she's actually 7 months bred. The dairy farmer also said she had discharge which made him think she was bred. His helper then said, "and her tail has yellow on it and that usually means they're bred." Now I wasn't sure at all what he was talking about...the blond hairs in her twitch or was he seeing some yellow goop that I wasn't.
So all that to say, is there a better time of day to bump a calf?