Bit if a dilema!!

[Missy]

Ok well as some of you may know,i posted a little while ago about a couple of my vets who had preg tested some of our cows (at 2 different times) for completely different results none of which matched the time frame when 2 of my cows recently gave birth.
Anyhow, i bought a jersey cow first week of January this yr. The bloke i bought her off said "oh she is about halfway pregnant" which i sort of took with a grain of salt. I had her tested first week of march as i had not witnessed her in heat since i had her.Vet says she was approx 11 weeks in calf which would have made her about 2-3 weeks in calf when i bought her. OK so definately not the 4-5 months i was hoping for but anyway!

Since i have had her she has been a great milker,but as of about 2 weeks ago,she dropped off greatly and only had enough milk for one calf. Then about 1 week ago i noticed a little tiny bit of clear mucous on her tail...As of today she has started producing much more milk and had quite a bit of mucous on her tail ,not a huge amount but enough for me too pull it around and feel it etc. Isn't a whole lot sticky,enough to hang to her tail though.Her vagina also wobbled a touch as she walked away(somethin i hadn't noticed before)
Now going on vets word she would only be approx 6 months. Going on sellers word,she would be due any day.
Now my vet who said she was 11 weeks,also said my other cow was 5 months (at the same time) cow that was 5 months calved 2nd week of April,so he was out by a couple months on her.

This cow looks less pregant than a couple of my open jersey cows but i understand that different cows carry them different ways etc etc

Any ideas,anyone experienced similiar situations :???:

 

[Missy]

:?: anyone

 

[hillsdown]

OK just guessing but I would say your cow is going to pop ..If she does you had better have colostrum on hand.

Post a pic of her back end with tail up if you can also a front and a side view..But from the mucous and swollen vulva it does sound like she was in calf further than your vet said and is going to deliver soon.

Sorry kind of hard to say without seeing the animal in question.

 

[Jogeephus]

I'm with HD on this one. All the physical signs are there and your vet has already proven he has not mastered the ART of palpation. I doubt your vet is incompetant or anything its just that this is truly an art and many of them don't do it enough to keep the touch. JMO
But if the vulva is squishy I'd look for a calf this week. If the vulva is squishy and the teets are turned out a bit I'd look for one in the next couple of days.

 

[Tod Dague]

Find out who does the palpation at your local sale barns.

 

[Missy]

I am a bit pi$$ed as i have had calves on her,not expecting her to calve yet :shock:
So i have posted pics below,let me know what you think.
She loves a scratch above her udder and her vulva is real squishy but not huge if that makes sense,she was also dribbling pee everytime i touched her,nothing she has done before :?

I have a little colostrum here,not enough but i should be able to get some ok.

I have used my 2 local vets already,others are over an hour away :|

 

[hillsdown]

Missy for how skinny she is up top she sure has a big belly so I would guess she is bred. If she were mine I would start to really stick the feed to her and pull whatever calves you have on her..
You will know in a few days to a week when a calf comes, if she has popped the mucous plug like it sounds..


Good luck and get some colostrum on hand JIC..

 

[Missy]

Aren't all dairy cows skinny :?

Alot of them are around here anyhow,especially the jersey's .I personally thought she to be in ok condition for a jersey but anyhow,thats not the problem.She is definately bred, so thats not an issue either,lol i wish they could talk to us sometimes :nod:
OK will leave her upfront as of tonight and keep an eye out on her.I am kinda worried in regards to her milk production,not being able to dry her up before calving and having her produce as much as she does.I hope she doesnt get mastitis

 

[Jogeephus]

Aren't all dairy cows skinny

Yeah, that's why I didn't comment on the picture. I know nothing about the looks of a dairy cows vulva. Mine cows vulvas will swell up and look like a prune on steroids and be all jiggly like jello. When they get like this and the teets turn out, its just a matter of hours. That one is awefully small by comparison but I don't think you can compare.

 

[regolith]

Hard to tell from a photo, but she'll probably get a lot looser than that before she calves... and in my experience some cows drop noticably in milk around the seven month (gestation) mark then return to full production if not dried off. It's been a while - this was an observation on all year round calving herds.
Having done your AI course, you might want to check her out for yourself. If the calf feels full size or close to, get the suckling calf off.
Five weeks dry is about a minimum to avoid any negative effect on next year's production.

 

[Missy]

Thankyou all so much.
I have read that they can start to lose the mucous from about the 6 month onward, is this correct?She hasn't lost anymore since! Her vulva doesn't seem that bad now compared to some others,maybe i was just paranoid :shock: