Post by Tamara on Nov 19, 2016 4:22:43 GMT -5
Help and opinions needed please, Fred seems to think Tallulah is in heat even though she was confirmed bred just this month!
I bought Fred in August, just a couple of days later on the 26th Tallulah was in heat, and I have not witnessed any signs of cycling or attempts at breeding since then so I assume she caught straight away. On the 23rd of October I drew blood from both Arwen and Tallulah and got the results back on 4th of November, both tested well within the 'pregnant' range of the BioPryn test. Admittedly, Tallulah's result was a lower number than Arwen's but I'm not sure if that meant anything or if the response just varies from animal to animal (Arwen tested at 0.7948 compared to Tallulah's 0.4913, according to the test anything >0.21 is pregnant).
However yesterday around the late afternoon I noticed Fred hanging out very close to Tallulah, sniffing her, resting his chin on her etc. I thought maybe he was just bored or displaying dominance or something. However he has continued to attempt to breed her over the last 24 hours. I haven't seen her stand for him and apart from one attempt from her to mount him, she doesn't seem to be displaying any obvious signs of being in heat like goo, acting crazy, holding her milk up etc. For all intents and purposes though, Fred seems to think otherwise and I'm inclined to trust his instinct. He's not showing any interest in Arwen or Nimue.
I don't know what to think Obviously if she lost it I know Fred will settle her again, but WHY would she lose it? How will I know for sure when to expect a calf and dry her up? Or am I overreacting and this is perfectly normal behaviour for a bull towards a bred cow?
I bought Fred in August, just a couple of days later on the 26th Tallulah was in heat, and I have not witnessed any signs of cycling or attempts at breeding since then so I assume she caught straight away. On the 23rd of October I drew blood from both Arwen and Tallulah and got the results back on 4th of November, both tested well within the 'pregnant' range of the BioPryn test. Admittedly, Tallulah's result was a lower number than Arwen's but I'm not sure if that meant anything or if the response just varies from animal to animal (Arwen tested at 0.7948 compared to Tallulah's 0.4913, according to the test anything >0.21 is pregnant).
However yesterday around the late afternoon I noticed Fred hanging out very close to Tallulah, sniffing her, resting his chin on her etc. I thought maybe he was just bored or displaying dominance or something. However he has continued to attempt to breed her over the last 24 hours. I haven't seen her stand for him and apart from one attempt from her to mount him, she doesn't seem to be displaying any obvious signs of being in heat like goo, acting crazy, holding her milk up etc. For all intents and purposes though, Fred seems to think otherwise and I'm inclined to trust his instinct. He's not showing any interest in Arwen or Nimue.
I don't know what to think Obviously if she lost it I know Fred will settle her again, but WHY would she lose it? How will I know for sure when to expect a calf and dry her up? Or am I overreacting and this is perfectly normal behaviour for a bull towards a bred cow?