Post by Applelonia on Sept 30, 2015 14:40:27 GMT -5
Just had Applelonia bred this morning. I had been waiting for her to go into "regular" heat since having her calf in May...the trumpeting, running around, sniffing the air, acting rather crazy...She was in heat around July 9th I thought, but it was not as noticeable as before she had her calf. I've been marking down when I thought she might be in heat on the calendar...July 9th...July 30th...August 21th...September 10th (when we had the neighbor's bull stroll into our barn) she must have been in heat that day because that would have been 22 days since her last mild heat. And then yesterday (20 days) since the last suspected heat, I saw discharge and she once half-heartedly tried to mount her calf. Called the AI guy. He came today to breed her. He told me that heifers tend to have more visual signs of heat than a cow that's already calved...I didn't know this...hence, not seeing strong signs/signals that she was in heat.
He bred her but thought maybe she should have been AIed yesterday - that it was maybe a little late . There was no longer any discharge. I'm hoping that by some miracle it worked. Now the hard part ...waiting.
As for our heifer Dazzle...she just turned three. She was bred twice by AI last year and did not settle. Wanted to bred her again this summer/fall. She used to show signs of heat. When Apple had her calf mid-May, Dazzle started bagging up slowly and stopped all signs of heat. From my observations I've seen no signs of heat since before May. She has never had a calf.
Why would Dazzle just stop going into heat? I decided to put the three bovines together - Dazzle, Apple, and Daffodil (Apple's calf). Figured Apple and Dazzle might pester each other when in heat/standing heat and it would help me determine when to call our AI guy. Daffodil (4 1/2 months old) kept trying to mount Dazzle - would this have been a sign Dazzle was coming into heat or do calves just do that kind of thing with no meaning? I needed to separate them when I saw Daffodil drink all of momma's milk and then turn to Dazzle. She was rooting around on Dazzle's udder and Dazzle didn't care.
Would leaving her in with Apple and Daffodil for a few weeks do much damage if Daffodil tried nursing from her? Advice - what would you guys do to help determine if/when Dazzle was in heat? I really want to try to get her bred.
He bred her but thought maybe she should have been AIed yesterday - that it was maybe a little late . There was no longer any discharge. I'm hoping that by some miracle it worked. Now the hard part ...waiting.
As for our heifer Dazzle...she just turned three. She was bred twice by AI last year and did not settle. Wanted to bred her again this summer/fall. She used to show signs of heat. When Apple had her calf mid-May, Dazzle started bagging up slowly and stopped all signs of heat. From my observations I've seen no signs of heat since before May. She has never had a calf.
Why would Dazzle just stop going into heat? I decided to put the three bovines together - Dazzle, Apple, and Daffodil (Apple's calf). Figured Apple and Dazzle might pester each other when in heat/standing heat and it would help me determine when to call our AI guy. Daffodil (4 1/2 months old) kept trying to mount Dazzle - would this have been a sign Dazzle was coming into heat or do calves just do that kind of thing with no meaning? I needed to separate them when I saw Daffodil drink all of momma's milk and then turn to Dazzle. She was rooting around on Dazzle's udder and Dazzle didn't care.
Would leaving her in with Apple and Daffodil for a few weeks do much damage if Daffodil tried nursing from her? Advice - what would you guys do to help determine if/when Dazzle was in heat? I really want to try to get her bred.