First Calf Heifer

[tcline]

Hi all.

I bought a few heifer calves last Nov. I still have three of them, and i'm wondering about one of them. She has been developing udders, like 3-4 inches worth, and the others only have the same little 1 inchers. She doesnt seem to be making milk but I'm not sure. She seems to be a bit wider, and more round looking than the others. Is she pregnant? Or is this just part of the heifers maturation? Just want to be prepared for the best, or worst, if its on the way. I know there are plenty of problems that I could encounter. She is really young, and still pretty small. And of course I've been feeding lots of grain to finish her for the butcher. Now I guess I'll have to wait and see what happens... pending your answers.

Thanks,
Todd

 

[msscamp]

Sounds to me like she is right on schedule to deliver about the end of August, maybe the first of September. How young is young? Sounds like she will be calving as a yearling, not a good situation, but, at this stage of the game not sure what you are going to do about it - the calf is almost full term, to abort now would still require delivery for the mother. I have also heard that 'hot' feed (high amounts of grain normally used in feed lots for finishing) can cause liver damage in the calf, but have never seen this so I'm not sure.

 

[R ^ 5]

The best advice i can offer you is take her to the Vet, and have her preg.checked.Then you can make your decissions on what you know.Not on what i or some others might say that hasn't even seen your hiefer.

 

[dj]

how old is she? and was she exposed to a bull after you bought her? best case you got a new calf and 1st calf heifer worst case is all you got is a big feed bill
like the others,imo find yourself a vet and get her preg checked

 

[Susie David]

Time to put her in the chute and "glove-up"...Had the same problem last year, bought a heifer that was supposed to be open, had a 2004 ear tag, all her baby teeth and after we had her for eight months, she developed a big "hay belly" no udder to speak of...one morning we found her with a ugly little bull calf, didn't know what to do with it, another heifer helped her lick a shine on the calf and after a day of bottle feeding and plugging him into mama they both got the idea. I'm not sure that the seller knew that she was first heat bred but I suspect that this is why she was sold.

Here's the steer at three months
Good luck...

 

[dun]

Why not post a picture? That way you can gind out not only if she's bred, but the sex of the calf!

dun

 

[eric]

Now Dun, how in the heck are you gonna sex that calf by only a picture? You know good and well you have to have a metal coat hanger used as a divining rod, and run it about 3-4 inches above the entire length of the heifers back and see if it twitches or not. Sexxing it by a picture, heck he has as good a chance of telling sex by a picture as he does feeding north or south!! And you know those only work half the time!

 

[Beefy]

its obviously a bull.

 

[dun]

Now Dun, how in the heck are you gonna sex that calf by only a picture? You know good and well you have to have a metal coat hanger used as a divining rod, and run it about 3-4 inches above the entire length of the heifers back and see if it twitches or not. Sexxing it by a picture, heck he has as good a chance of telling sex by a picture as he does feeding north or south!! And you know those only work half the time!

Seems like just last week thre were posts to the affect that you could tell all of that stuff from the way the hair lays. Figured a picture would work to tell.

dun

 

[tcline]

I guess Im sorry that I was asking so much, and giving so little info. My question is pretty simple though. Is udder growth normally a sign of pregnancy, or just normal maturation?

And to answer a earlier question, Im guessing the heifer in question to be about 18-20 months old. I got her in Nov at 560 lbs, and now weighs just over 900. She hasnt been exposed to any bulls after purchase.

Thanks for any insight you might be able to give on normal heifers and thier development prior to calving for the first time. Obviously calving, is not something that we have done here, nor intended to do at this time. We are trying to get the vet out by the end of the week to let us know what he thinks, and give us some pointers.

Todd

 

[Beefy]

well, if thats the case then if shes pregnant she should have a calf between the middle of August and the middle of September depending on if you got her in early november or late november. in some heifers the teats will develop some at maturity, not so much the udder. and even so its not usually a significant development. i would go out on a limb and say that if you noticed her getting a little bustier shes bred and due around the end of the month or early september. could probably give you a better idea if we saw a picture though.

(edited, and needed badly)

 

[kaneranch]

I have the same situation, thanks for the info, Kaneranch

 

[Turkey Run]

its obviously a bull.

I think heifer,got to be.

 

[Beefy]

its probably one of the two. hopefully not both.

 

[msscamp]

Why not post a picture? That way you can gind out not only if she's bred, but the sex of the calf!

dun

Ouch!

 

[dj]

but if it was a worst case and turned out to be both
would it be
a Steeritte
b heifteer

like already mentioned if she is "bagging" she's preg,
if her teats are getting longer she's maturing
and at 19-21 mo she will do alright
but may require looking after

 

[dun]

but if it was a worst case and turned out to be both
would it be
a Steeritte
b heifteer

like already mentioned if she is "bagging" she's preg,
if her teats are getting longer she's maturing
and at 19-21 mo she will do alright
but may require looking after

We had a purchased "bred" heifer that formed a bit of a bag at 2 years. All happened within a couple of week span. She didn;t calve so we palapated and found out she had one immature ovary and a raisin for the other.
The bag had nothing to do with calving or even sexual maturity, just age.

dun

 

[Beefy]

neither. that would be a better case scenario if it came out part steer. no i think you would get either A) a hell or B)a bulfer