cow with a bag and no calf for 4 mos

[dieselbeef]

she shouldve calfed in apr/early may...had a milk thief on her when i thought she was baggin to calf.
solved that problem and the bag never really got any smaller but stayed bout the same. still has the bag but its getting bigger but she doesnt look like shes gettin any closer...and is 4 mos late
almost impossible to get a vet out here..i gotta haul her to one about 60 mi away and lose a days wrk. so im on my own basically..as usual....

since i calf all yr to keep various sizes on grass for beef sales..how can i tell if the bull is off or if the cow is off.
i dont wanna wait til the next one is due in 4 more mos to find out if shes gonna be late or not also.

then ill know its the bull but hes been on track the last 3 yrs so...i dont feel like its the bull..but it could be.
how can she be baggin for 4 mos and not filling the back qtrs yet. theyre gettin pointy and swellin a little but...they hqave been for about 2 weeks..but since the milk thief shes had a bag and thats been 4 mos ago almost....
thanks
gary

 

[brandonm_13]

Is the udeer big, or full? If she's still milking a little bit from the last lactation, it can fool you sometimes, especially if she's got a large udder. Other than that, I don't know. I've had some good milking meat goats that would bag up a month early(that's on a 5 month pregnancy), but still 4 months seems like alot.

 

[dieselbeef]

it seems to be about 1/2 full...ive seen others bag up a cpl mos early even but this cow is wierd

 

[brandonm_13]

I could be way off but her having milk means one of two things to me. 1. She's pregnant,and just really early on her milk, which is weird. and/or 2. She never really dried up from the last calving, but is now filling up with milk because of a nutritional increase from either grass or grain. Either way, I don't know whether she would be around next year. Is she a heavy milker? How many calves has she had?

 

[dieselbeef]

this would be her 4th..she carries a great bag usually and is a good momma

its odd...not sure..just gonna wait and see i guess...maybe shell calf yet

 

[brandonm_13]

She could be fine and you're worrying over nothing, but then again who knows?

 

[farmwriter]

I thought the same thing as Brandon. Sometimes lots of really good grazing can put some jiggle in their bags. Can you palpate at your place? Maybe draw the blood yourself for a preg test and take it to the vet? Hard to tell when the bull stays with 'em year round. Do you get a BSE for your bull?
If she's that mature and missed calving a year, I'd probably be looking to unload her myself.

 

[Keren]

agree with what has already said

and also just a thought, could she be a self sucker? or perhaps one of the other adults is sucking her? that might explain a prolonged lactation

 

[mnmtranching]

She's open. A bred cow will naturally dry up buy the third trimester. Then in the last weeks before calving will develop the udder. When not bred a cow will continue with the milk somewhat and an increase in nutrients might cause additional milk.

 

[kenny thomas]

If you have a sale barn near you take her as if you were going to sell her. Have her preg checked and if she is bred no-sale her and it will still cost less than a vet bill especially if you have to take a days work and travel 60 miles. If she is not bred the market is where she needs to be anyway so either way you will not worry about her any more.

 

[dieselbeef]

If you have a sale barn near you take her as if you were going to sell her. Have her preg checked and if she is bred no-sale her and it will still cost less than a vet bill especially if you have to take a days work and travel 60 miles. If she is not bred the market is where she needs to be anyway so either way you will not worry about her any more.

theyre not gonna do that here..they dont ask anything but ..''where ya want tyhe check sent''.
i got plenty of grass right now so im gonna hold on to her for a few more weeks and see

they bag dont look sucked on and i havent seen any others on it..when i tried to seprate her she went thru the fence to get back to the herd...pita

 

[3waycross]

If you have a sale barn near you take her as if you were going to sell her. Have her preg checked and if she is bred no-sale her and it will still cost less than a vet bill especially if you have to take a days work and travel 60 miles. If she is not bred the market is where she needs to be anyway so either way you will not worry about her any more.

theyre not gonna do that here..they dont ask anything but ..''where ya want tyhe check sent''.
i got plenty of grass right now so im gonna hold on to her for a few more weeks and see

they bag dont look sucked on and i havent seen any others on it..when i tried to seprate her she went thru the fence to get back to the herd...pita

I would be very surprised if your sale barn did not have a vet there to preg check any cow to determine if they were bred or not. Even our little sale has one there every friday morning doing health and preg checks. Why not ask them if you bring in a cow you are not sure about if they can do it. for you.

 

[dieselbeef]

i have 2 local barns within bout 50 mi...ill call em both....

guess im gonna hafta wait and see on the bull...i was just about to break even on these cows this yr too. mightve gone into red for hay but ive got some sales to make so it couldve werked out..shes blowin my btm line and if its the bulls fault..well then he gave me the horns.....if ya git my drift


remeind me of something my dad used to say...''mess with the bull yer gonna git the horns''