BARNSCOOP
Well-known member
I would like to see some pictures of freemartins at several different ages if possible.
BARNSCOOP":2rnnuobo said:Knersie,
I have been unable lately to post pictures.. You have them as well as several more I sent you just now. Can you post them from your location? For everyone else. She is a 1/2 Limo 1/2 Murray Gray I purchased therefore I do not know her background. She is 16 months old. I have a call into the breeder for more information.
Bez+,
I have a suspected freemartin and I wanted to see pictures of others as Knersie has told me in some cases you can see a physical difference. I guess I need to have her blood checked to be sure but would also like to learn the signs, via eyesight, so I do not purchase a second one.
Exactly! There is a probe that the vets can use to determine but to be completely sure a blood test is the best bet. The probe has to be done early, I think before calf reaches 3 months if my memory (questionable these days) serves me correctly. When the vet probed my heifer she was "on the line" so he couldn't call it for definite sure. He said that 9 of 10 mixed births result in the heifer being a freemartin, he said the bulls are good but can sometimes have sperm counts that would not make them candidates for drawing/freezing. If you want to know get a blood test, it cost me $35.cypressfarms":1mttjesf said:While there are some visual cues that can lead a person to think a heifer is a freemartin, as stated before, perfectly normal looking calves can be freemartins as well. I would not trust anyone who tells you they can visually spot a freemartin. Also, when your buying stock, it's been my experience that freemartins are not nearly as common as heifers that just have fertility/reproductive problems. We've all had the heifer that looks really good, a front pasture girl, to only be told by the vet that she'll never reproduce after she's palpated. (At least I have )
regolith":2cz5g97c said:Had no reason to think this one was a freemartin - apparently a single birth (though I could have mismatched a calf) - until she didn't get in calf and grew up looking like this. Didn't find any reproductive tract when I went hunting for that elusive calf she's supposed to be gestating, but I'll admit I didn't look very hard either.
KNERSIE said:Compare the vulvas.
Either way she isn't breeding material in my opinion if profitable cattle farming is your goal.