How often is the VET wrong????

[uscott]

I recently purchased two Hereford heifers DOB 8/2011 and 9/2011 sold as bred from a VET approx 3 hours away from me. According to him the bull in date was late November and they have been in together ever since. Had those two as well as two others (one has been in with the bull since october and the other was bought as bred but has been with this same bull since Jan) both approx 20 months olds palpated this weekend. The VET who came out said that all four were open. now the first two were with a bull that was an untested half brother of the same age but the last two have been in with my bull and he has calves everywhere right now. So what gives how likely was this guy to be wrong????

 

[Alan]

Most Vets have gotten out of bovine medicine for a simple reason ..... no money in it. So the result is some vet will come out to preg check some cows and get it wrong. As is everything, we never hear about the right times just the times they're wrong. I have a lot of respect for vets but if they don't know what they are doing ...... Stay off the field!

As far as your question goes, Most likely if they are with a proven bull they are bred but it may too early to see. So I would say the second Vet is wrong, all four are probably not open. ???

 

[thommoos]

Alot, I had a nice cow that preg test open, which really ticked me off, so to the butcher she went, butcher said she was pregnant, about 4 months. I have seen them miss a lot on who is open and not.

 

[dun]

Depends on the vet. Some are almost scarey accurate, others you would be better off throwing darts.

 

[pdfangus]

Depends on the vet. Some are almost scarey accurate, others you would be better off throwing darts.

exactly....you gotta know who you are dealing with....
the title DMV
does not mean at palpation
good they be.

 

[Dave]

So I put together a group of heifers to breed. Having way too many teen pregnencies show up amoungst them. Had my vet preg them about 40-45 days ago. Everything I bought after that I had pregged at the sale. So on Saturday we AI'ed the bunch. The guy doing the breeding works for a several thousand cow dairy. Spends his life with his arm up a cow. And has been at it for years. He found two breds that the vets missed and called open. One the regular vet missed six weeks ago the Ai guy called 90 days. One that the fill in vet from the sale (regular vet was on vacation) missed he said was 6 months. So vets can be wrong.

I wont be having that fill in vet do any preg testing for me in the future.

 

[bcarty]

This is exactly why more people need to learn to palpate their own cattle. If you are wrong then the only person to blame is yourself. I do almost all my own and I have been wrong before. The couple times I was wrong were on old cows that needed sold anyway.

If they are all four open I would for sure get in touch with the vet you bought them from as well as have your bull tested and those other four repalpated by a different vet. Vets can be wrong but it sounds like something else may be wrong. If the one could be 7 months pregnant its pretty hard to miss a fetus that big so unless the second vet has no feeling in his hands then more than likely you have some pregnant heifers.
If they are open then you have something wrong with your bull or your heifers and you need to contact the vet you purchased those two from and talk to them. They should be willing to work something out with you.

 

[TexasBred]

Like most things accuracy in palpating takes a lot of time and repetitions. Unfortunately most vets don't get those opportunities, but just about anybody ought to be able to find a 6 month calf in a cow. (Although I once missed one by 8 months and 29 days) :cry2:

 

[Dave]

. (Although I once missed one by 8 months and 29 days) :cry2:

A hint TB. When you run your arm in there and a calf starts sucking on your fingers, it means they are bred.

 

[3MileRanch]

Sounds like you bought what we would call "Heavy bred", not "bred." Heavy bred means they have been with the bull for a length of time and would be assumed bred. "Bred" means they have been checked and there is a calf in there. If they were bred then the only way they would be open now is if they aborted and you probably wouldnt have missed that on all four of them unless they are really left out on there own.

Are they still going into estrus? What is your bull to cow ratio?

 

[3waycross]

. (Although I once missed one by 8 months and 29 days) :cry2:

A hint TB. When you run your arm in there and a calf starts sucking on your fingers, it means they are bred.

Don't feel bad. The same thing happened to someone I know and it turned out that she was 8 1/2 months bred. He felt the top of the head and pronounced her bred and little more!

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Sounds like you bought what we would call "Heavy bred", not "bred." Heavy bred means they have been with the bull for a length of time and would be assumed bred. "Bred" means they have been checked and there is a calf in there. If they were bred then the only way they would be open now is if they aborted and you probably wouldnt have missed that on all four of them unless they are really left out on there own.

Are they still going into estrus? What is your bull to cow ratio?

Around here heavy bred means exactly that. Heavy bred Third period.

 

[3MileRanch]

Sounds like you bought what we would call "Heavy bred", not "bred." Heavy bred means they have been with the bull for a length of time and would be assumed bred. "Bred" means they have been checked and there is a calf in there. If they were bred then the only way they would be open now is if they aborted and you probably wouldnt have missed that on all four of them unless they are really left out on there own.

Are they still going into estrus? What is your bull to cow ratio?

Around here heavy bred means exactly that. Heavy bred Third period.

So what would you call a short bred cow then? Here it would mean that its just been put out with the bull and is gestating or early pregnancy, but again if its in its early pregnancy we would call it bred. If you buy a bred cow you get some kin dof gaurantee or vet statment that its bred at the time of sale. Heavy bred is just that. Its been heavy bred and you would assume that its in its third, no gaurantee.

So as im sitting here typing I am thinking. If Heavy bred means they are in their third trimester, then why is it never used in association with AI, or at least I havent seen it used like that. Just curious. I dont do a lot of AI. What would you call a Springer then? What would you call a heavy Springer? You really arent that far away from me so I cant imagine the terms are all that different between here and there.

 

[3waycross]

No offense intended but;

Short bred or heavy/long bred have nothing to do with how long they have been with a bull. It has everything to do with how far into the gestation they are. Actually it's more appropriate to use the term 1st, 2nd, or 3rd trimester like they do at the sale barn but most folks i know just call then heavies or heavy bred or short bred!

 

[pdfangus]

Sounds like you bought what we would call "Heavy bred", not "bred." Heavy bred means they have been with the bull for a length of time and would be assumed bred. "Bred" means they have been checked and there is a calf in there. If they were bred then the only way they would be open now is if they aborted and you probably wouldnt have missed that on all four of them unless they are really left out on there own.

Are they still going into estrus? What is your bull to cow ratio?

Around here heavy bred means exactly that. Heavy bred Third period.

yeah....that is a different definition of heavy bred than I have ever heard....I don't know that around here it would necessisarily mean third trimester but heavy bred would certainly mean more than half way thru gestation......

 

[TexasBred]

. (Although I once missed one by 8 months and 29 days) :cry2:

A hint TB. When you run your arm in there and a calf starts sucking on your fingers, it means they are bred.

:lol2: :lol2: Packer price was very high, this cow weighed 1800 lbs. and I did not want her to be bred so really only made a half ass effort. The old man thta owned the cow cut her off and put her in a pen by herself. Next day he sort of shyly asked me to check her again. Got about half my hand inside and grabbed feet. She calved that afternoon. Old man just smiled and I turned extremely red !!!!!

 

[uscott]

Sounds like you bought what we would call "Heavy bred", not "bred." Heavy bred means they have been with the bull for a length of time and would be assumed bred. "Bred" means they have been checked and there is a calf in there. If they were bred then the only way they would be open now is if they aborted and you probably wouldnt have missed that on all four of them unless they are really left out on there own.

Are they still going into estrus? What is your bull to cow ratio?

I live away from them so i havent noticed them riding or anything. There are two bulls (bought one to replace because im keeping heifers) in with the first two with about 20 other cows. all of these cows are either have new calves on the ground or are springing. So my bull is sound. one heifer has been with him since october and one since january. The other two that i bought from a vet was in with a half brother since november. So I either have,

1. 4 bad heifers
2. 3 bad bulls
or
3. 1 incorrect vet

 

[3MileRanch]

Sounds like you bought what we would call "Heavy bred", not "bred." Heavy bred means they have been with the bull for a length of time and would be assumed bred. "Bred" means they have been checked and there is a calf in there. If they were bred then the only way they would be open now is if they aborted and you probably wouldnt have missed that on all four of them unless they are really left out on there own.

Are they still going into estrus? What is your bull to cow ratio?

Around here heavy bred means exactly that. Heavy bred Third period.

yeah....that is a different definition of heavy bred than I have ever heard....I don't know that around here it would necessisarily mean third trimester but heavy bred would certainly mean more than half way thru gestation......

If your buying a cow that is supposed to be bred and you dont get a gaurantee that it is bred then it doesnt matter if they are saying they are short bred or heavy bred. You are just assuming. If they had a vet check them then any vet worth his salt will give a report saying they were bred at the time he checked them. I think we are saying the same thing all except for the gaurantee bred.

 

[3MileRanch]

Sounds like you bought what we would call "Heavy bred", not "bred." Heavy bred means they have been with the bull for a length of time and would be assumed bred. "Bred" means they have been checked and there is a calf in there. If they were bred then the only way they would be open now is if they aborted and you probably wouldnt have missed that on all four of them unless they are really left out on there own.

Are they still going into estrus? What is your bull to cow ratio?

I live away from them so i havent noticed them riding or anything. There are two bulls (bought one to replace because im keeping heifers) in with the first two with about 20 other cows. all of these cows are either have new calves on the ground or are springing. So my bull is sound. one heifer has been with him since october and one since january. The other two that i bought from a vet was in with a half brother since november. So I either have,

1. 4 bad heifers
2. 3 bad bulls
or
3. 1 incorrect vet

LOL, Id say the odds are on favor of the incorrect vet. ;-)

 

[hopalong]

It is not that expensive to draw blood and with 97% accuracy at 29-30 days well worth the money. I palpitate and draw blood for the same price and at the same time,,.. I also find that I am only about 70% accurate at that time(((blame it on me)))) I feel good about it,,, only takes about 5 days for results... JMHO
http://www.biopregcheck.com/