Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2012 9:34:46 GMT -5
So my first dairy heifer is due to calve any time now... or so I hope. This girl has me so confused now that I don't know what to do with her.
She has been showing a swollen bag and some bloody discharge for close to 2 weeks, and has been leaking colostrum for 1 week. I've been expecting the calf any day for a week, but still no sign. Two days ago she had a little more slimy, slightly bloody discharge coming out, which had me hoping, but nothing yet. Also, it seems that she has leaked out all her colostrum. It looks like regular milk is coming out now.
Other than her udder, she doesn't even look very pregnant. I'm starting to think that she isn't going to have a calf at all. I think she may have aborted, apparently triggering some milk production.
I'm no expert. I have only a few years of experience with Scottish Highlanders, and next to none with dairy cows. I'm not very good at keeping track of due dates. Basically, I keep a bull out with the cows and heifers and hope for the best. But one incident last August now has me concerned:
This same heifer had a little blood coming out and her bag beginning to swell, but neither sign to the extent that it is now. I thought then that she was getting close to calving, but then days later she showed signs of being in heat, and I watched the bull mount and definitely "hit" her, only 5 months ago.
I think she may have aborted last summer, re-bred, and then aborted again now.
In you good folks' experience, does a miscarriage typically trigger milk production, as if the heifer had a calf? For that matter, do pregnant cows ever get "frisky" and let a bull mount them? I hope so, since that would mean she might still be fully pregnant and about to calve. I once had a highland heifer lead me on for a month, expecting a calf every day. Hopefully this heifer is just doing the same thing, but I'm going crazy waiting for a calf and not even knowing for sure if there's one in her.
Advice would be appreciated.
She has been showing a swollen bag and some bloody discharge for close to 2 weeks, and has been leaking colostrum for 1 week. I've been expecting the calf any day for a week, but still no sign. Two days ago she had a little more slimy, slightly bloody discharge coming out, which had me hoping, but nothing yet. Also, it seems that she has leaked out all her colostrum. It looks like regular milk is coming out now.
Other than her udder, she doesn't even look very pregnant. I'm starting to think that she isn't going to have a calf at all. I think she may have aborted, apparently triggering some milk production.
I'm no expert. I have only a few years of experience with Scottish Highlanders, and next to none with dairy cows. I'm not very good at keeping track of due dates. Basically, I keep a bull out with the cows and heifers and hope for the best. But one incident last August now has me concerned:
This same heifer had a little blood coming out and her bag beginning to swell, but neither sign to the extent that it is now. I thought then that she was getting close to calving, but then days later she showed signs of being in heat, and I watched the bull mount and definitely "hit" her, only 5 months ago.
I think she may have aborted last summer, re-bred, and then aborted again now.
In you good folks' experience, does a miscarriage typically trigger milk production, as if the heifer had a calf? For that matter, do pregnant cows ever get "frisky" and let a bull mount them? I hope so, since that would mean she might still be fully pregnant and about to calve. I once had a highland heifer lead me on for a month, expecting a calf every day. Hopefully this heifer is just doing the same thing, but I'm going crazy waiting for a calf and not even knowing for sure if there's one in her.
Advice would be appreciated.