Freemartin?

[sewall]

Hey do any of you know if a person can do some sort of test or something to tell if a heifer is a freemartin? Or do you just have to wait and see if she gets bred or not.

 

[Frankie]

Hey do any of you know if a person can do some sort of test or something to tell if a heifer is a freemartin? Or do you just have to wait and see if she gets bred or not.

Is it worth $50 to find out? Then UC@Davis has a test that can tell you.

http://www.agxnetworks.com/vgl/vgl/freemartin.php

Otherwise, there's no way to really tell until she just doesn't breed. Some of them will cycle. Some won't. Some just don't have all their plumbing, but you need someone experienced to palpate them and find that out. Unless she's something really special, you're probably better off to just assume she's a freemartin and ship her as a feeder heifer.

 

[backhoeboogie]

If she is a free martin, her teats usually won't be much at all. They'll look just like a bull calf's teats. If the heifer has teats about the size of a pencil, and about a thumbs width in length, she is probably alright.

Some people dip the birth canal to see if it is normal. I don't know much about that and don't have experience with a normal one so I wouldn't know the difference. But, from what I understand, the female part is not normal.

If I am buying bottle calves to graft onto the nurse cow and they are heifers, I just look at the teats. It has always worked for me. Every free martin I have ever seen had teeny tiny teats.

 

[bigbull338]

as said you can do a blood test.or you can have the vet palpate her at 10 months old.i can look at a heifer after she is so old an pretty much tell if shes a freemartin.does her vulva have hair on it.an can you see her bagg an teats.or do you you just see buttons.an no loose bagg.if you dont see those 2 things odds is its a freemartin.

 

[TexasBred]

as said you can do a blood test.or you can have the vet palpate her at 10 months old.i can look at a heifer after she is so old an pretty much tell if shes a freemartin.does her vulva have hair on it.an can you see her bagg an teats.or do you you just see buttons.an no loose bagg.if you dont see those 2 things odds is its a freemartin.

Yep...have seen "cattle traders" actually burning the hair off them with a propane torch to make them look more normal....not much they can do tho about the lack of teats.

 

[Lammie]

If the heifer is the twin to a bull calf she will usually be a Freemartin. The teats and hair thing are pretty obvious. Once you have seen one you will be able pretty much to tell after that.

 

[dun]

If the heifer is the twin to a bull calf she will usually be a Freemartin. The teats and hair thing are pretty obvious. Once you have seen one you will be able pretty much to tell after that.

Sometimes. There are also those that are comletely normal in appearance and even have the plumbing intact but lack the hormones to maintaine a pregnancy. UC Davis blood test is 100%, seems like someone mentioned another one that was cheaper not to long ago.

 

[Lammie]

If the heifer is the twin to a bull calf she will usually be a Freemartin. The teats and hair thing are pretty obvious. Once you have seen one you will be able pretty much to tell after that.

Sometimes. There are also those that are comletely normal in appearance and even have the plumbing intact but lack the hormones to maintaine a pregnancy. UC Davis blood test is 100%, seems like someone mentioned another one that was cheaper not to long ago.

I stand corrected, as usual, Dun, and bow to your experience. :dunce:

The original poster didn't say whether this heifer was born in his own herd or not, but as usual, buying at the barn is a crapshoot. The ones I buy are generally destined for the freezer, so it doesn't matter to me. It'll still eat and be eaten.

 

[dun]

I picked up the term "functionally a freemartin". Our vet now uses the term too. It means that everything is normal, have heats, stand to be bred, may or may not settle to the service. If they settle they'll lose it usaully at around 30-45 days.

 

[CKC1586]

If the heifer is the twin to a bull calf she will usually be a Freemartin. The teats and hair thing are pretty obvious. Once you have seen one you will be able pretty much to tell after that.

Sometimes. There are also those that are comletely normal in appearance and even have the plumbing intact but lack the hormones to maintaine a pregnancy. UC Davis blood test is 100%, seems like someone mentioned another one that was cheaper not to long ago.

GenMark Lab in Wisconsin does it for $39.00. Will let you know how mine turns out....

 

[vquinn2]

I had a set of jersey twins (one bull and one heifer) born in September. I sent in the blood work to genmark in March. She came back negative--non freemartin Hopefully this spring I can see what actually happens as far as breeding her. It was worth the $39.

Valerie