Early bagging in heifer

[Turin5-3]

Last April I posted about a heifer that was bagging up early. Here it is January and she still hasn't had a calf. Husband says she just didn't want to be bothered by the bull, so she is just pretending to be preg. Well, her bags have come in very large now and I expect a calf in about a week. Thanks for all the advice about the early bagging back in April, just thought I'd give an update. Thanks to all on this site for being there when we need you. :tiphat:

 

[bigbull338]

1st calf heifers can an do have false baggs.they usually occur when the heifer is 6 months bred or less.

 

[Beefy]

bigbull is right. however your heifers false bag was occurring when the heifer was less than 1 month pregnant which is more unusual. sometimes when the quarters start to "develop" or swell that early on they turn out to be no good or blind quarters. certain types of mastitis can cause this in heifers. ive seen this quite a few times and have one heifer now that was like that. luckily one of her quarters works for the calf. so just be mindful of that when the calf gets here and make sure it is actually getting milk, no matter how big her bag looks.

 

[bigbull338]

ill take beefys statement 1 step further.alot of heifers have fluid in the baggs at young ages.the only time you need to worry is if you see a swollen teat,it could be from flys or skeeters biting it or mastitis.

 

[Beefy]

yeah thats how the 1 teated heifer was. ive learned from experience that i might as well cull them when they have a swollen teat or quarter like that. used to i just hoped she had gotten stung by a wasp or bitten by a horsefly or something and it would be fine, but ive learned otherwise. i hope this heifer isnt like that but bag development that early on sounds a little fishy. what breed is it? ive seen holsteins with "bags" on them early.

 

[Turin5-3]

She is a holstien cross. She has one quarter that still hasn't grown but I know she has at least two maybe three that'll handle a calf. Now we are in wait mode again. :lol: :lol: