Calfing Due Date's.

[Stepper]

I have noticed that alot of people here know down to the day that their cow's are due to calf. I was wondering how they were able to be arround when conception took place ? Myself i am not able to be there except for maybe a hour each day most of the time. A cow/heifer cycle's every 21 day's right ?

Also these heifer's that i am raising probably weigh's about 700 to 750 lbs right now. I have not noticed them cycleing except for when i first got them back in October. They then weighed about 550 lbs each. They were riding each other quite a bit then. At 550 lb's i would not think they would be able to cycle yet ? I thought they had to reach about 65 % of projected adult weight before they would be able to cycle ?

 

[Frankie]

I have noticed that alot of people here know down to the day that their cow's are due to calf. I was wondering how they were able to be arround when conception took place ? Myself i am not able to be there except for maybe a hour each day most of the time. A cow/heifer cycle's every 21 day's right ?

We AI everything so we know when she was bred. Not everyone has the time to pay so much attention to their cow's sex life.

Also these heifer's that i am raising probably weigh's about 700 to 750 lbs right now. I have not noticed them cycleing except for when i first got them back in October. They then weighed about 550 lbs each. They were riding each other quite a bit then. At 550 lb's i would not think they would be able to cycle yet ? I thought they had to reach about 65 % of projected adult weight before they would be able to cycle ?

Have they been exposed to a bull at all? If you're not sure, you might want to give them a shot to abort them, just in case. We've had five month old heifers cycle. It confuses the gomer bull. He'd make half hearted attempts to mount them, but they were just too small. I'm all for early fertility, but if those heifers are running with an equally fertile bull calf, it can cause some problems. Good luck with them....

 

[Stepper]

I am not sure if they are bred or not. I wish i have of had the vet give them a shot to abort just to have been on the safe side. I am going to have the vet preg test them here in about a week or so when i get them up to work them.

But depending how far along they are i probably will not try having them abort now.

Frankie,

Is AI ing a pretty successful procedure ?

 

[Victoria]

I walk through the cows once a day during breeding and watch who the bull is paying attention to (not necessarily mounting). I get the due dates on about 80% of them doing this. Unfortunately we had a night breeder in with our heifers. They got pregnant but during the day he was Mr. Innocence.

You are correct - every 21 days approximately. Some cows can be a few days shorter or longer.

They can get pregnant that young and some breeds are fertile at younger ages than others. Good idea preg testing them. Good luck.

 

[Stepper]

Thanks Victoria for the information.

 

[Susie David]

Two week old calves ride eachother...normal behavior most of their lives. Some come in and go out quickly, especially if there is no bull around. Our yearlings have been bellering and riding...passes in a day, at least for another three weeks.
We'll breed in late May/early June...like the March calving as the temps are above freezing by late March.
I havn't had all that great success with AI, the bull is 100%...also worked the night shift but get an ides from the cow behavior and the attention the bull pays to them...when they go out it's like she threw a switch and the bull doesn't care that she even around. DMc