Genetics & sentimentality

[dun]

Last year we had 3 heifers that were late to breed, this year the same thing from them. The only 3 we had sired by one particular bull. The sentimentality part is that one of them was Grannys last daughter. Last year she aborted on 4-2, being the last of Granny and she is such a beauty (looks just like Granny except red) we kept her and bred her back. Late breeding again and this year she aborted on 4-1. Dammit!

 

[CottageFarm]

I'm sorry, Dun :frowns:

 

[TN Cattle Man]

Sorry for your luck Dun... sometimes things just suck in our business!!

 

[fitz]

I hate that kind of run for you. Especially one you're really counting on.

fitz

 

[Limomike]

double dammit.. I hate that for you dun. Try and try again..

 

[Putangitangi]

As we say here, bugger! This goes along with don't ever name them or they'll die (or not calve, or slip their calves, etc.).

 

[skyhightree1]

dun sorry that has happened.

 

[dun]

The only positive is that we have 2 of the only 3 daughters she ever had and 2 grandaughters. No heifers from any of them this year though

 

[Chris H]

Dun how far along were they when they aborted? Do you assume there are fertility issues related to their sire, or a combination of that sire & the heifers?

 

[dun]

Dun how far along were they when they aborted? Do you assume there are fertility issues related to their sire, or a combination of that sire & the heifers?

Around 7 months or so. Since all of them didn;t breed until just before the bull was pulled I'm laying it at the feet of their sire.

 

[CottageFarm]

So, are you gonna keep her?

 

[cow pollinater]

Sorry to hear that, Dun. It sucks when the ones that make it special for you don't keep making it special. It just makes it hard to keep being excited, doesn't it?

 

[dun]

So, are you gonna keep her?

As soon as she cleans she's gone

 

[hillsdown]

I kept a heifer that was down for weeks after a hard pull. I gave her a lot of tlc and nursed her back to health and she rebred on time. She gave me beautiful twins , raised them both and they weaned at a little over 600 lbs each. The next year she bred back on schedule and gave me twins again , except they were twisted together and she needed a section or have them cut out . Being that it was -46 a c section was out so we cut out and removed as much of the first twin that we could , pumped her full of antibiotics and hoped she would abort them now that they were not twisted together anymore . I lost her to septicemia a week later . Maybe I should have cut my losses and shipped her as soon as she was up and walking and her withdrawal period was over that first time .

Sometime a second chance pays off and sometimes it is a heartbreak again.

 

[Aaron]

I had a cow like that a couple years back, could not carry a calf full term. Had two premie's and an abortion. Neighbor had a cow like that as well back in the 80's, so it does occur occasionally. He always said never keep anything around that aborts late term, because it has a high probability that it will do it again at some point - I have found that to be very true over the years.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

I kept a heifer that was down for weeks after a hard pull. I gave her a lot of tlc and nursed her back to health and she rebred on time. She gave me beautiful twins , raised them both and they weaned at a little over 600 lbs each. The next year she bred back on schedule and gave me twins again , except they were twisted together and she needed a section or have them cut out . Being that it was -46 a c section was out so we cut out and removed as much of the first twin that we could , pumped her full of antibiotics and hoped she would abort them now that they were not twisted together anymore . I lost her to septicemia a week later . Maybe I should have cut my losses and shipped her as soon as she was up and walking and her withdrawal period was over that first time .

Sometime a second chance pays off and sometimes it is a heartbreak again.

Sorry to hear. Why didn't you pull the second twin? We cut a calf out of a dairy heifer, worst experience I ever had. Vet did the flexion test and was sure the calf was dead, so I kept pressure on the legs with a chain while he cut. I kept telling him I was feeling the calf jerk on the chains as he was cutting, he kept reassuring me it was just him cutting through the tendons. Calf was born alive, with two back legs and one front shoulder (cut at the shoulder, removed the entire shoulder and everything below). Saddest thing ever, vet ran to his truck get beuthanisia to put the calf down.

Dun, sorry to hear that.

 

[pdfangus]

i have always had that luck with my best cows...they either had all bulls which generated income making them the best cows or when they did have a heifer the heifer just never panned out.....

I finally just decided to keep the best heifers as replacements and not worry about who mama was as much....

I was using the sons of these good cows as cleanup and they made a contribution as well....

 

[hillsdown]

I kept a heifer that was down for weeks after a hard pull. I gave her a lot of tlc and nursed her back to health and she rebred on time. She gave me beautiful twins , raised them both and they weaned at a little over 600 lbs each. The next year she bred back on schedule and gave me twins again , except they were twisted together and she needed a section or have them cut out . Being that it was -46 a c section was out so we cut out and removed as much of the first twin that we could , pumped her full of antibiotics and hoped she would abort them now that they were not twisted together anymore . I lost her to septicemia a week later . Maybe I should have cut my losses and shipped her as soon as she was up and walking and her withdrawal period was over that first time .

Sometime a second chance pays off and sometimes it is a heartbreak again.

Sorry to hear. Why didn't you pull the second twin? We cut a calf out of a dairy heifer, worst experience I ever had. Vet did the flexion test and was sure the calf was dead, so I kept pressure on the legs with a chain while he cut. I kept telling him I was feeling the calf jerk on the chains as he was cutting, he kept reassuring me it was just him cutting through the tendons. Calf was born alive, with two back legs and one front shoulder (cut at the shoulder, removed the entire shoulder and everything below). Saddest thing ever, vet ran to his truck get beuthanisia to put the calf down.

Dun, sorry to hear that.

We could only get some of the first one cut out without damaging the cow , she aborted the remains that evening and I was able to pull the second twin . It was actually pulling and breaking more than cutting as there was not really very much room to work around in. Remember this is outside in -40 weather , nothing goes as it should . :( I thought that she might have a chance with infusing her and all of the meds we gave her . It was just too much for her with the cold weather and how stressful it was to pull and cut the first twin out even though we blocked her . The first twin had his head all the way back so only the neck was there and both legs tucked underneath and the second was upside down underneath him . Just the worst presentation you could have .

I messed up with her time frame . First year gave me a bull calf , then twins and twins again . Who the heck would think that you would raise 600 lb twins by yourself and rebreed on time actually earlier and have twins again . This year twins are not on my like list ;-)

I should add my LA vet was out of town , and had he been here things would have gone much differently .

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

We could only get some of the first one cut out without damaging the cow , she aborted the remains that evening and I was able to pull the second twin . It was actually pulling and breaking more than cutting as there was not really very much room to work around in. Remember this is outside in -40 weather , nothing goes as it should . :( I thought that she might have a chance with infusing her and all of the meds we gave her . It was just too much for her with the cold weather and how stressful it was to pull and cut the first twin out even though we blocked her . The first twin had his head all the way back so only the neck was there and both legs tucked underneath and the second was upside down underneath him . Just the worst presentation you could have .

I messed up with her time frame . First year gave me a bull calf , then twins and twins again . Who the heck would think that you would raise 600 lb twins by yourself and rebreed on time actually earlier and have twins again . This year twins are not on my like list ;-)

I should add my LA vet was out of town , and had he been here things would have gone much differently .

Ugh, bad all the way around! We actually had a cow do that; her first calf was a heifer, she had twins last fall (2012) and weaned both of them off just under 600 pounds (they were the red bulls I had pics on last fall - sold them both for good money!), and she twinned again this fall, but we lost them both. We even had her ultrasound at 70 days to make sure everything was good, and vet assured us she had only one calf in there. She always calved mid-October (to AI bulls), so when we found her with feet, breech, sticking out two weeks early we were surprised. We brought her up, pulled a dead bull calf, 70 pounds. We tried everything to get the calf going, but he was dead. I thought it was a bit small for her, but she was still a little on the thin side from raising the twins. I went to the house, really disappointed, and changed for work. Hubby called just after I got changed to say there was another set of feet coming out! Pulled a second dead bull calf, also 72 pounds. Then I was really ticked off. Had I known she had twins (remember, ultrasound) I would have watched her closer earlier knowing twins come early. But, she bred right back again, and is due this October (again). I figured she has done her job raising me three calves, so she kept her job. Vet said it was highly unlikely she would twin again, so we will see. I will watch her closely regardless!
Wish you would have had better luck.