Aborting a Calf

[inyati13]

Derby Girl was born 5/4/13.
I sold my bull on 10/21/13.
The only opportunity that she could have been bred.
I have never seen her come into heat.
I taped her this week and she is over 900 pounds at 11 months old.
Let's assume she got bred in early October; she would have been about 5 and a half months old.
Is it too late to abort her?
Picture March 14:

Picture October 20:

 

[Hook]

Preg check her. If bred abort it.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Why abort? Let her have the calf.

 

[branguscowgirl]

I would agree to preg check her, not so sure that I would want to abort at 7 mos though. Can you have the vet check her pelvis and give you an opinion? Was it a low birth weight bull?

 

[Taurus]

Talk to your vet. Hopefully it wasn't monster calf.

 

[Lucky_P]

Have her checked. As big as she is now, bred to that Angus bull, I wouldn't anticipate any problems.
She wouldn't get aborted here, not that far along; just watched like any other heifer, for any possible difficulty delivering.

 

[Nesikep]

At 7 months I'd let her have it too, perhaps I'd consider inducing labor a week early if I really think it would be too big a calf, but usually I find the younger they are, the shorter they'll gestate anyhow

 

[Jake]

Preg her to see if she's bred. If she's weighs 900#, let her have it. Nothing wrong with that size of a heifer having a calf.

 

[inyati13]

I palpated her this morning. Just over wrist deep, I could feel the cervix. I was surprised that it was not further back. It may have been the most shallow cervix I have encountered. I could trace the body of the uterus to the front edge of the pelvic floor and feel the horns of the uterus as they went over the edge. It felt like both horns were there under my hand as I pressed gently down on the floor of the pelvis. I could not feel the ovaries. Since I was in no hurry, I explored the birth canal. I think this heifer has good dimensions. In an effort to make sure I was not missing anything, I went as deep as my arm would let me and I never felt any sign of a fetus.

I am far from experienced at palpation but I am going to express the opinion she is not pregnant. The vet is coming out next Thursday, I will ask him to palpate her too.

Ok, if she is open, why have I not seen her cycle? I weaned her in early December. I keep her with company while she is weaning. Why did I not see some sign of a heat?

 

[Jake]

It's a function of percentage of mature body weight. Do you expect her to be a 1700# cow? If so she should be just starting to cycle at her current weight and age. If she is expected to be smaller mature, she may be late maturing or have fertility issues.

 

[pdfangus]

over worrying.....
causing problems when there are none...
Plan the work and work the plan....
Some bulls are not 100% sucessful in heat detection....
why do you think you should be?

 

[Hook]

I mis read. I thought 700 lbs and 11 months. Maybe it's time for those reading glasses

 

[inyati13]

I mis read. I thought 700 lbs and 11 months. Maybe it's time for those reading glasses

Hook, she is nice size. I used the tape that converts to weight and I gave her a high condition score which actually lowers the weight (I had to think a second on that as it seems reversed but then I understood). She is at least 950 and just a week over 11 months old. What got me worried was she was not coming into heat. So I figured one of the possibilities was she had been bred but that would have put the time of breeding at 5 and a half months old. I can see where pdfangus thinks I am worrying over nothing but I needed to rule out pregnancy.

 

[inyati13]

over worrying.....
causing problems when there are none...
Plan the work and work the plan....
Some bulls are not 100% sucessful in heat detection....
why do you think you should be?

I have been pretty much 100% until now. The reason why I need to be is because I AI on natural heats. I will not breed anything until about the last week of May but I am starting my records of when they come into heat. I check each heat and count the days back so when I want to breed, I put her up about 2 days before their heat with another girl and that sets me up for being spot on when I put her in the chute to breed. If I cannot pick up their heat, I cannot breed them.

Jake
I expect her to be about 1600. Her mom is about 1600. Maybe she needs a little more time. I would like to breed her AI in June.

 

[Nesikep]

I've been meaning to measure Sofa and Kama.. I figure they're in the 900 lb range. Both of them have been cycling like mad since september... Sofa has been in heat nearly a dozen times.. she sometimes is as fast as 15 days... At least she's quiet about it, some other bawl all day and night, and they're too close to my bedroom window for me to appreciate that.

My biggest framed heifer didn't start to come into heat until she was 11 months old, I figure yours might be like her.. she's got another full month anyhow.. I have one cow that's had the first calf of the year about 6 times (out of 8)... it seems she comes into heat the day the bull is released... she also gestates a little shorter than many of the others, so that helps her out too.

 

[Jake]

Jake
I expect her to be about 1600. Her mom is about 1600. Maybe she needs a little more time. I would like to breed her AI in June.

I wouldn't worry to much about her yet. If you aren't breeding her until June she has some time.