Haybelly or am I getting an OOPS calf?

[Nesikep]

I've been looking at this heifer and darn I'm wondering if she's in calf.. She sure hasn't put any fat on.. I marked it down that it looked like she MIGHT have been in heat August 18th, but I can't remember which pasture she was in for the bulls (I remember the bulls didn't like all my plans and there were a number of mixups).. anyhow, I haven't seen her in heat, and August 18th would give me a calf in about a month, I don't feel any bagging up happening (yet).
They hay they've been on hasn't been the best this year, and I had a LOT of first cut to feed out, probably not very high protein, I've got a couple days of that left before I get into the good stuff.. I'll see what I can do to feed her good, but wondering if I should kick her out to pasture with the others (that happens May 10th)

 

[kenny thomas]

Pretty sure you could bump a calf if she is gentle

 

[Nesikep]

Pretty sure you could bump a calf if she is gentle

I'm not expert at it, I tried, didn't feel anything.. I know on some of my other cows at 8 months you're seeing knees and hooves poking out from their sides.. this could be a tiny calf

 

[kenny thomas]

She looks bred to me. Even looks a little swelled behind

 

[Nesikep]

She looks bred to me. Even looks a little swelled behind

That's kinda what I noticed as well... hope she decides to have a 40-50 lb calf and not some monster

 

[daneg]

Looks like your dates may be right, I think she looks bred just starting to show, about a month out her moccasin is a bit wider than her tail!

 

[Nesikep]

well, bonus calf as long as she can pull it off I guess

 

[BFE]

Looks like your dates may be right, I think she looks bred just starting to show, about a month out her moccasin is a bit wider than her tail!

That's what I was thinking, and thanks for the description. Moccasin sounds a bit more refined than puddy.

 

[BFE]

Pretty sure you could bump a calf if she is gentle

I've heard of bumping, but not sure the right way to do it. Please give us a lesson.

 

[kenny thomas]

Sometimes it's easy and 6+ months. Other times maybe.
Just take your fist against the lower right side of the stomach and bump in. You can feel the calf bump back if you hit it. It just feels like you hit something solid instead of guts.

 

[TCRanch]

Last pic: Lunch on the left, rugrat on the right. Looks bred to me.

 

[Lannie]

When I'm bumping a calf, I use the flat of my hands, fingers spread and crossed over each other 90 degrees (more surface area to feel), then push in firmly but slowly, then let off quick and press in again. Most times the cow will move away, so you might have to keep at it for a little while, but it's easy to feel the calf moving under your hands that way, once they start moving around in response to your push. Closer to calving, the calf is tighter in there and not moving around as much, so it might be harder to find, but a month out is the perfect time to bump. I can usually feel them from a little more than 2 months out, up to a couple of weeks before calving, but it was difficult at first to know what I was feeling for. After a while, it's pretty easy.

I have been kicked in the head by an in-utero calf before. I had my head pressed in on the cow's soft belly in front of her knee, milking, and I guess the calf woke up and stretched. That was a weird feeling, LOL!

I have been told (don't know how true it is) that if you try bumping while the cow is eating, you have a better chance of finding the calf. I guess something about the rumen filling/working wakes the calf up and they start to stretch and move around. It seems to work that way for me most times, but sometimes not, so take that with a grain of salt.

I think she looks pregnant, too, by the way. I wish I could see her udder. If she's a heifer, it should be doing something by now.

 

[Nesikep]

When I'm bumping a calf, I use the flat of my hands, fingers spread and crossed over each other 90 degrees (more surface area to feel), then push in firmly but slowly, then let off quick and press in again. Most times the cow will move away, so you might have to keep at it for a little while, but it's easy to feel the calf moving under your hands that way, once they start moving around in response to your push. Closer to calving, the calf is tighter in there and not moving around as much, so it might be harder to find, but a month out is the perfect time to bump. I can usually feel them from a little more than 2 months out, up to a couple of weeks before calving, but it was difficult at first to know what I was feeling for. After a while, it's pretty easy.

I have been kicked in the head by an in-utero calf before. I had my head pressed in on the cow's soft belly in front of her knee, milking, and I guess the calf woke up and stretched. That was a weird feeling, LOL!

I have been told (don't know how true it is) that if you try bumping while the cow is eating, you have a better chance of finding the calf. I guess something about the rumen filling/working wakes the calf up and they start to stretch and move around. It seems to work that way for me most times, but sometimes not, so take that with a grain of salt.

I think she looks pregnant, too, by the way. I wish I could see her udder. If she's a heifer, it should be doing something by now.

Udder isn't doing anything I can tell.. She's pretty gentle and likes belly rubs,

This one was easy to tell

 

[annmariemz23]

I've been looking at this heifer and darn I'm wondering if she's in calf.. She sure hasn't put any fat on.. I marked it down that it looked like she MIGHT have been in heat August 18th, but I can't remember which pasture she was in for the bulls (I remember the bulls didn't like all my plans and there were a number of mixups).. anyhow, I haven't seen her in heat, and August 18th would give me a calf in about a month, I don't feel any bagging up happening (yet).
They hay they've been on hasn't been the best this year, and I had a LOT of first cut to feed out, probably not very high protein, I've got a couple days of that left before I get into the good stuff.. I'll see what I can do to feed her good, but wondering if I should kick her out to pasture with the others (that happens May 10th)



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We get heifers that look like this from time to time, but who aren't pregnant. We actually have one family line that looks like this all the time! Huge bellies! I have always written it off to genetics, and they usually grow out of it. Alternatively they have some kind of internal problem, and they never thrive.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Bonus calf!

Moccasins and puddy.... rofl

I've learned I'm not great at guessing heifers in early stage. Once they make milk and spring heavy I'll know tho.

 

[Lannie]

Udder isn't doing anything I can tell.. She's pretty gentle and likes belly rubs,

This one was easy to tell

Yikes! Aliens! No doubt there, right? Great video!

I don't have any pure beef heifers, so I should probably keep my mouth shut, but my *just about* half and half Angus/Jersey heifer had nothing more than what looked like a bit of a fatty udder right up until a few days before she calved. Seriously, it could have just been fat, I wasn't really sure. It was enough I could cup my hand around it, but it didn't seem to get bigger. I fretted over that like you wouldn't believe, thinking maybe, just MAYBE she wasn't bred, and the movement I felt in her belly was just gas. But she calved a day before her due date and even though she still had a pretty small heifer udder, she raised a nice fat bull calf for me, and there was milk left over for the house. Her second calf, she made a better udder and there was PLENTY of milk in it. She's expecting #3 this fall.

So you can't really tell by the udder every time, but it always makes me feel better if I can see some progress there. I still think she looks pregnant, but it IS kind of hard to tell under all that hair (wink), and I hope you find a nice bouncy calf one day soon.

 

[wgf]

That's kinda what I noticed as well... hope she decides to have a 40-50 lb calf and not some monster

agreed..

 

[Nesikep]

We get heifers that look like this from time to time, but who aren't pregnant. We actually have one family line that looks like this all the time! Huge bellies! I have always written it off to genetics, and they usually grow out of it. Alternatively they have some kind of internal problem, and they never thrive.

Oh, I have a few that are big round pigs even after calving.. One of them convinced my mother she was pregnant and she got all the goodies and lots of attention.. No, she wasn't
In this case it was a day before she had a 140 lb calf



Anyhow, I gloved up and felt around.. now I'm no expert, and I quite literally couldn't make heads or tails of what I was feeling, but i'm 99 44/100th percent sure there is a calf in there.. if I were to guess, I'd say about 30 lbs or so?

Took some more pics

 

[gcreekrch]

Glove up again, most calves are lying on right side of cow. You may be in a ways past your elbow... do a little gentle bouncing and you will feel movement. There is nothing hard in there either if not in calf.

 

[Nesikep]

Glove up again, most calves are lying on right side of cow. You may be in a ways past your elbow... do a little gentle bouncing and you will feel movement. There is nothing hard in there either if not in calf.

yeah, that's where I felt it, down and to the right. I will be putting her on a better diet here soon