72 hours and no heat at all

[Highlandheath]

I am synchronizing six Highland heifers. The CIDR were pulled with a PG shot 72 hours ago not one sign of heat. Estrotect stickers are all on.
Have you ever seen this?

 

[W.B.]

What is wt. and age of heifers?

 

[Highlandheath]

I'm not sure exactly if their weight but they're two years old and have what looks to me like a good body condition

 

[W.B.]

Have they been exposed to a bull? Have you observed them in standing heat before?

 

[Highlandheath]

They were with a bull very briefly. He is gone now and the butcher thought he was actually quite old. I have seen Heat associate activities in them but never witnessed them in a standing Heat

 

[Highlandheath]

Do you find that heifers take longer to be in standing Heat after the 7-Day cidr and PG?

 

[cow pollinater]

Not time to panic yet. Actually far from it. I'd bet you'll get a good response tomorrow and maybe the next day.
You have a couple of options for anything that doesn't come in tomorrow. You can hit them with gnrh and breed them, hit them with gnrh and again with lut a week later if you really want to see a standing heat before you breed, or just keep watching them for a while as sometimes sync will get things moving that weren't otherwise ready to move and you might see some oddball heats.

 

[Highlandheath]

Thank you so much I needed the encouragement

 

[W.B.]

They were with a bull very briefly. He is gone now and the butcher thought he was actually quite old. I have seen Heat associate activities in them but never witnessed them in a standing Heat

How long exactly is briefly?

 

[Son of Butch]

They were with a bull very briefly. He is gone now and the butcher thought he was actually quite old. I have seen Heat associate activities in them but never witnessed them in a standing Heat

How long exactly is briefly?

just a few weeks..... ;-) ......

 

[Highlandheath]

About a month

 

[Highlandheath]

I should add that I did a blood draw on everybody two weeks ago to make sure I knew who was open and who was not

 

[W.B.]

I should add that I did a blood draw on everybody two weeks ago to make sure I knew who was open and who was not

That is good to hear. Anything in heat yet?

 

[NEFarmwife]

There are other factors as well, especially with heifers. You saw them stirring but not standing...What was the ground like? Is it muddy? Froze? If cattle don't feel sure footed, they're going to be less likely to jump.

 

[Highlandheath]

One looks like she is heating up. She is bellowing, her tail is slimy and she is trying to mount others. No one is mounting her and her sticker has not changed. Ground is snow covered over frozen. I noticed some playing and grooming with a couple others.

 

[Highlandheath]

Well not a single sign of heat out of any of the other five cows. I think I will hit them with GnRH and start over.

 

[NEFarmwife]

Well not a single sign of heat out of any of the other five cows. I think I will hit them with GnRH and start over.

How long were they without a bull before you preg tested them with blood sample?

Also, I'd shoot them to drop their egg and breed anyway. If your semen isn't too expensive. Seems like there is a larger window on heifers and a 7 day cidr? When we've bred others heifers on a 7 day, if they didn't come in, we bred anyway with good success. I would not go thru cidr protocol again. If anything, just observe for natural heats and watch those patches.

We do 14 on heifers with TAI. So while we pulled CIDRS today, we won't actually breed for another couple weeks (I forgot how many days)

 

[Redgully]

I'm thinking they were already in calf. May not be now after hormones program.

 

[Highlandheath]

Well not a single sign of heat out of any of the other five cows. I think I will hit them with GnRH and start over.

How long were they without a bull before you preg tested them with blood sample?

Also, I'd shoot them to drop their egg and breed anyway. If your semen isn't too expensive. Seems like there is a larger window on heifers and a 7 day cidr? When we've bred others heifers on a 7 day, if they didn't come in, we bred anyway with good success. I would not go thru cidr protocol again. If anything, just observe for natural heats and watch those patches.

We do 14 on heifers with TAI. So while we pulled CIDRS today, we won't actually breed for another couple weeks (I forgot how many days)

Interesting, I just assumed that they had a silent heat. Perhaps they did not ovulate at all. The highland semen is not readily available and is more expensive. Also the only success I have ever had is with a good strong standing heat (guess that is what makes me comfortable.) I really think they are open. Bull was 4 months ago and the blood test are supposed to be very accurate by my understanding.
Now I wonder if I should just keep watching. I was thinking that the idea of GnRH now and PG in a week (no CIDR) would speed things along, so that I can get back to life.

 

[NEFarmwife]

Well not a single sign of heat out of any of the other five cows. I think I will hit them with GnRH and start over.

How long were they without a bull before you preg tested them with blood sample?

Also, I'd shoot them to drop their egg and breed anyway. If your semen isn't too expensive. Seems like there is a larger window on heifers and a 7 day cidr? When we've bred others heifers on a 7 day, if they didn't come in, we bred anyway with good success. I would not go thru cidr protocol again. If anything, just observe for natural heats and watch those patches.

We do 14 on heifers with TAI. So while we pulled CIDRS today, we won't actually breed for another couple weeks (I forgot how many days)

Interesting, I just assumed that they had a silent heat. Perhaps they did not ovulate at all. The highland semen is not readily available and is more expensive. Also the only success I have ever had is with a good strong standing heat (guess that is what makes me comfortable.) I really think they are open. Bull was 4 months ago and the blood test are supposed to be very accurate by my understanding.
Now I wonder if I should just keep watching. I was thinking that the idea of GnRH now and PG in a week (no CIDR) would speed things along, so that I can get back to life.

It would be quite unusual to have all of them in silent heat. And I'd rule out pregnancy if bull hasn't been with them for 4 months. I'd also question why he didn't get them stuck?

Our CIDR protocol on heifers is different from yours. I do believe the 7 day does have a larger window though. I wouldn't be surprised to see them come in later.

But I'd also really question their breedability. From what I'm understanding, they'd have been culled already around here.